17098 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS July 31, 1989 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS CAPTIVE NATIONS WEEK new hope that the people of Cambodia, Well, I have just returned-hopeful, and Laos, and Vietnam will regain some day encouraged-from visits to Poland and Hun­ their long-denied political and religious free­ gary, two nations on the threshold of histor­ HON. ROBERT K. DORNAN dom. Such hope has also returned for many ic change. And I can say to you: The old OF CALIFORNIA of our neighbors to the south. In Nicaragua ideas are blowing away. Freedom is in the IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES and other Latin American nations, popular air. Monday, July 31, 1989 resistance to attempts at repression by local For forty years, Poland and Hungary en­ dictators-as well as resistance to political dured what's been called the dilemma of the Mr. DORNAN of California. Mr. Speaker, and military interference from Cuba and single alternative: one political party, one would like to call your attention to the Presi­ the Soviet Union-has proved to be formida­ definition of national interest, one social dent's proclamation regarding the captive na­ ble. and economic model. In short, one future­ tions of the world and also the eloquent In Eastern Europe, even as we see rays of prescribed by an alien ideology. light in some countries, we must recognize speech President Bush made last week in the But, in fact, that future meant no future. that brutal repression continues in other For it denied to individuals, choice; to soci­ White House Rose Garden to commemorate parts of the region, including the persecu­ eties, pluralism; and to nations, self-determi­ Captive Nations Week, 1989. tion of ethnic and religious minorities. nation. And yet in Poland and Hungary, a Americans are blessed to live in a free and This week, we recall with deep sadness the courageous people would not yield to de­ open society. However, billions of people infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop pact between spair. There, as elsewhere, the light of liber­ throughout the world yearn for freedom, but Nazi Germany and the U.S.S.R. that ty would not go out. are held captive by Communist oppression. doomed Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithua­ And ten days ago, I watched thousands We Americans, coming from many different nia to dismemberment and foreign domina­ brave a driving rain to acclaim this love of tion. The United States refuses to accept ethnic backgrounds, declare our solidarity with liberty. They cheered for free assembly, free the subsequent incorporation by the Soviet press and speech, and freedom of religion, the people of the world who cry for freedom Union of the Baltic States during World and filled a square in Budapest named after and democracy. War II. Since their forcible annexation in a freedom fighter who believed in that de­ America is the beacon of freedom through­ 1940, the people of Lithuania, Latvia, and mocracy which linked the people of Hunga­ out the world. May that beacon especially Estonia have faced political oppression, reli­ ry with the peoples of the world. shine with increased intensity on the captive gious persecution, and repression of their Lajos Kossuth arrived in America in 1851 nations of the world. national consciousness. But decades of op­ after Hungary's struggle for freedom had pression have not broken the great spirit of CAPTIVE NATIONS WEEK, 1989 temporarily been lost. And yet in his re­ the Baltic people and other victims of marks to the United States Congress, he <By the President of the United States of Soviet domination. was hopeful, not embittered. He spoke of America> Hundreds of thousands of men and his "Steady faith in principles" of self-gov­ A PROCLAMATION women around the world continue to dem­ ernment, opportunity, and individuality. Each July, we Americans celebrate our onstrate publicly their desire for liberty and The heroism of such patriots inspires us, Nation's independence and the blessings of democratic government, demanding free­ and teaches us. For they embody the spirit self-government. As we give thanks for the dom of speech, assembly, and movement, as of Captive Nations Week-the spirit which rights and freedoms that citizens of this well as the freedom to practice their reli­ says that freedom around the world is not Nation have enjoyed for more than 200 gious beliefs without fear of persecution. divisible, and which lives in the brave immi­ years, we also recall our obligation to speak Their voices are being heard; there have grants from Captive Nations who are beside out for oppressed peoples around the world. been improvements in human rights prac­ me: Polita Grau de Aguero, for instance, a We thus pause during Captive Nations tices by the ruling regimes in many of these political prisoner in Cuba before fleeing to Week to remember in a special way those countries. But justice demands that more America. Or Haing Ngor, who fled Cambo­ peoples who suffer from foreign domination positive steps be taken. The fundamental dia after the holocaust and won an Acade­ and from ideologies that are inimical to the rights and dignity of individuals must be my Award for his role in the "Killing ideas of national sovereignty and individual recognized in law and respected in practice; Fields." liberty. the peoples living in captive nations not These seven people are heroes. For they Today, the leaders of the Soviet Union only ask for but are entitled to lasting pro­ have shown the power of courage and free and other Communist governments are dis­ tection of their God-given rights. expression. And last week, I saw how the covering that the voices of those who long The United States shall continue to call peoples of Poland and Hungary are leading for freedom and self-determination cannot upon all governments and states to uphold the way toward this democratic future­ be silenced. Around the world, men and the letter and the spirit of the United Na­ casting rays of light on other nations that women in captive nations are calling for rec­ tions Charter and the Helsinki Final Act are not as fortunate. For within these na­ ognition of their basic human rights. Their until freedom and independence have been tions, men and women are standing up for calls-the undeniable expression of just as­ achieved for all captive nations. the cause of liberty, often at enormous cost. pirations-are beginning to be heard. A cause the Czech writer Valav Havel once In Afghanistan, the nightmarish years of REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT DURING called the "Living in Truth." Soviet occupation are over, and the Afghan CEREMONY FOR CAPTIVE NATIONS WEEK This truth forms the heart of Captive Na­ people's demand for self-determination is Thank you all for coming today to the tions Week. For it dictates that liberty be drawing closer to realization. Unfortunately, White House. And I want to welcome you to political, and economic; religious, and intel­ a decisive end to the Afghans' long ordeal the White House and to an occasion-Cap­ lectual. "Living in Truth" suggests that remains elusive while a puppet regime in tive Nations Week-ma.ked by sadness, but democratic ideals can make all things possi­ Kabul continues the proxy devastation of blessed by hope. ble for a nation, and for its people, and that their war-ravaged homeland. And today we meet to signal our deep con­ the individual, not the state, is the voice of In Africa, the people of Angola have a real cern at the fate of nations, and peoples as tomorrow. <Applause.> chance to find peace after years of violent well, whose liberty has been held captive. We see that truth in the successful return struggle against the ruling Marxist-Leninist And we applaud the movement toward de­ of democracy to Pakistan. And in Africa, regime. Our hopes for national reconcilia­ mocracy taking place in the world, and the where liberty lights those nations moving tion in Angola will remain tempered, howev­ changes yet to come. away from state socialism with new success. er, as long as armed Cuban mercenaries con­ Six months ago this week, I said in my In­ The hated system of apartheid is on the de­ tinue to stalk the forests and veldt of that augural Address: "In man's heart, if not in fensive. And in our hope for a Cambodia land and other countries on the African fact, the day of the dictator is over. The to­ with self-determination for her people-and continent. talitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown a complete and verified Vietnamese with­ Communist expansionism has been frus­ away like leaves from an ancient lifeless drawal, with no return to power by the trated in Southeast Asia, and today there is tree." <Applause.> Khmer Rouge. <Applause.) e This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. July 31, 1989 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 17099 And today, the light of liberty is illumi­ NATION'S AVIATION INDUSTRY provements or the tax rate cut. Now, they nating the face of Eastern and Central OPPOSES TRUST FUND DIVER­ are about to renege on the deal, and to place Europe, and reflecting the changes taking SION an additional $976 million of aviation user place within the Soviet Union-toward fees in the general fund instead of the trust greater openness at home and away from fund. Who can say what might happen to confrontation abroad.