6582 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS April 3, 1990 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS TRIBUTES TO POLISH PRIME In both statements, the authors, each in his "establishing communism in Poland is like MINISTER MAZOWIECKI own way, offers an eloquent tribute to the trying to put a saddle on a cow." courage, vision, and leadership of Prime Min­ And it was finally and fully resurrected by HON. DAN ROSTENKOWSKI ister Mazowiecki, and to the great movement the roundtable agreement and the elections for political democracy and economic reform last year, in which the people of Poland, OF ILLINOIS given the first opportunity in fifty years to IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES which he symbolizes. freely and fairly determine their own desti­ I hope my colleagues will agree with me Tuesday, April 3, 1990 ny, threw out the communists and made that these statements should be made a part possible the establishment of the govern­ Mr. ROSTENKOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, we of the permanent record of this body. Accord­ ment led by the good and decent man we were recently given the high privilege of re­ ingly, I include the statements in their entirety honor by our presence here today-Prime ceiving the Honorable T adeusz Mazowiecki, at this point in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki. the remarkable Prime Minister of the Republic ADDRESS BY REPRESENTATIVE STEPHEN J. So it seems to me that we have a very spe­ of Poland, on his first state visit to the United SOLARZ cial obligation to Prime Minister States. This is an extraordinary moment in the Mazowiecki, and to the Polish people, whose Over the course of his visit, Prime Minister history not only of our country but of the personal courage and political creativity Mazowiecki held many important meetings, in­ world. Nineteen ninety, like 1848, 1914, and made it all possible. cluding two with the President, and made nu­ 1945, is likely to be remembered as marking History is filled with the stories of Poles merous public appearances in Washington, the end of one epoch and the beginning of who have come to the aid of others. Sobies­ another. ki's lifting of the siege of Vienna in 1683, Chicago, and New York. I was personally hon­ From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in Kosciusko's contribution to our own revolu­ ored to be present for many of those events. the Adriatic, the iron curtain has ascended tion in 1776, and the brave Polish soldiers, Prime Minister Mazowiecki is a man of great all across Europe. In one Central and East­ sailors, and airmen who fought alongside intellect and thoughtfulness. Unlike many poli­ ern European country after another, crypto­ the Allies to liberate Europe from the Nazis ticians who feel that the merit of a particular Stalinist dictatorships are being trans­ in the 1940s, all made a critical contribution position increases in direct relationship to the formed into genuine parliamentary democ­ to the cause of freedom in other lands. volume with which it is pronounced, Mr. racies. In view of what Poland has done for Mazowiecki puts great stock in an understated This past weekend the first free and fair America and Europe, it is time for America demeanor noted for its dignity and depth. elections in over forty years were held in and Europe to start doing something for Hungary. Last week they took place in East Poland. It is entirely fitting, of course, that the Prime Germany. And before the year is over, Minister of Poland conduct that nation's affairs This is not just a question of sentiment. It Czechoslovakia, Roumania, and Bulgaria is very much a matter of our own self-inter­ of state with great dignity. As the Prime Minis­ will be holding truly free and fair elections est. If democracy in Poland should fail, if ter reminded us in Chicago, it has been the as well. economic reform should make things worse rightful claim to live in dignity which has again In the Soviet Union itself we are witness­ rather than better, it would inevitably jeop­ inspired a wave of political reform in Poland ing the gradual emergence of a multi-party ardize the experiments in political pluralism and around the world. system and the ineluctable dissolution of the last of the great empires. and market economics elsewhere in Central And despite his quiet delivery, I think all And if anyone doubts the truly profound and Eastern Europe-not to mention the Members will agree that we heard the Prime character of these remarkable political Soviet Union itself. Minister. transformations, I have in my hand a card So we have an enormous stake in the sur­ We heard him when he delivered Poland's which should lay those doubts to rest. It is vival and success of democracy and free en­ unassailable claim to the right of secure and the business card of the Washington corre­ terprise in Poland, which is why I believe spondent for Poland's communist newspa­ that if we could spend literally trillions of inviolable borders. dollars over the last forty years to defend We heard him when he stressed the need per. And printed on this card is the phrase: "Number One Opposition Paper of Poland." Western Europe from the threat of Soviet for an all-Europe structure in which Poland will I chose my example carefully, because the military aggression, we can surely afford bil­ play its rightful-and prominent-role. truth is that the winds of democracy which lions of dollars in investments, credits, and We heard him when he called for a re­ are now sweeping away the political debris debt relief to consolidate democracy in East­ newed and strengthened partnership between of discredited dictatorships all across Cen­ ern Europe. the United States and Poland-a relationship tral and Eastern Europe first began to blow George Bernard Shaw once wrote: "Some needed now more than ever, by both nations. in Poland. And if it hadn't been for the tri­ men see things as they are and ask why. I urge all my colleagues to heed what we umph of political pluarlism in Poland in Other men dream things that never were 1989, democracy never would have come to and ask why not." Prime Minister have heard, and to join me in rededicating the other great countries of Eastern and Mazowiecki and the people of Poland are ourselves to the support of programs de­ Central Europe in 1990. dreaming of things that, at least in their signed to make real the aspirations of the It started with the election of a Polish part of the world, never were, and it is up to freedom-loving people of Poland. pope in 1978. us to help him turn those dreams-the As a further matter, Mr. Speaker, I wish to It gained momentum when the Holy dreams of peace, pluralism, and prosperity­ bring to the attention .of my colleagues one of Father made his first pastoral visit to the into an enduring reality. the more stirring moments of the Prime Minis­ land of his birth in 1979, and the millions of Poles who came out to see him got a sense ter's visit. The occasion was a ceremony, held ADDRESS BY JAN NOWAK of their own strength and solidarity, while in New York City at the Cathedral of St. John simultaneously providing the definitive Mr. Prime Minister, distinguished guests. the Divine, on March 26, to celebrate the answer to Stalin's cynical question "How It is more than a privilege to address this awarding of the first Cathedral Peace Prize to many divisions does the Pope have?" distinguished gathering. In my 45 years of Prime Minister Mazowiecki. It received a boost when an anonymous life in exile, I never lost hope that one day Notable among the moving statements electrician climbed the fence at the Lenin Poland would be free again. But with each made at that ceremony were two in particular; shipyard in Gdansk a year later and lent his passing year, I had less and less hope that I would live long enough to see Poland's res­ one by our colleague, the gentleman from political genius and tactical skills to the es­ tablishment of Solidarnosc. urrection. New York [Mr. SOLARZ], the other by Mr. Jan It was kept alive during the years of mar­ And here the dream comes true. Nowak, the Polish patriot and trusted adviser tial law by Zbigniew Bujak and the other We gather here to welcome a man who is on Poland to both the administration and the leaders of underground Solidarnosc, who leading his nation back into the family of Congress. proved the truth of Stalin's aphorism that free and democratic peoples. 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. April 3, 1990 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 6583 I feel deeply moved by the ecumenical of every religion, race and nationality-has PENNSYLVANIA SENDS WINNERS character of this event and grateful to our been a principal theme of the pontificate of FROM HAMPTON HIGH hosts. Ecumenism-the brotherhood of John Paul II. It was this Polish Pope who SCHOOL TO NATIONAL FINALS people of different creeds, race, nationalities made the pilgrimage to the synagogue to OF HISTORICAL PICTORIAL and political outlook-can be summed up in embrace his Jewish brothers and put an end one word: Solidarity. to 2,000 years of discord between Christiani­ MAP CONTEST The Solidarity movement represents the ty and Judaism.