| (WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, will speak today on the House floor in support of a resolution commemorating the extraordinary events in 1989 which led to the end of Soviet domination over Eastern Europe. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:
“As a political refugee from Cuba’s Communist regime, I look at the events of 1989 in Europe as evidence of the transformative power of people yearning to be free. It gives me hope that the walls of repression in Cuba will soon crumble.
“The year 1989 was a pivotal one for freedom in Europe. In the course of only 365 days, walls fell, free elections were held, dictators were washed away and people who had long yearned for freedom crossed barriers and walked into liberty.
“The trade union ‘Solidarity’ won its historic election victory.
“Two million people living in the Baltic States linked hands to form a human chain almost 400 miles long in a dramatic peaceful protest against Soviet rule.
“East Germany opened the border with West Berlin; thousands of East Germans flooded across the border; and the Berlin Wall fell.
“The ‘Velvet Revolution’ protests in Czechoslovakia led to free democratic elections.
“Today, we commemorate those triumphs of freedom 20 years ago. But also today, I fear that many of those who stood up so courageously for freedom and democracy in 1989 may once again be in the crosshairs of Russian leaders.
“Two years ago, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov threatened ‘serious consequences’ after the Estonian Government moved the site of a Soviet war memorial. Just last year, a Russian General said that Poland was ‘making itself a target’ by hosting missile defense components.
“We must send a clear message to our NATO allies in Eastern Europe that we stand with them in the face of Russia’s aggressive statements and actions; that their hard-won freedom and security matters to us.”
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