Congratulating the peoples of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic on the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, on the 26th anniversary of their countries' independence, and on the 101st anniversary of Czechoslovakia's declaration of independence.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 618 Congratulating the peoples of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic on the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, on the 26th anniversary of their countries’ independence, and on the 101st anniversary of Czecho- slovakia’s declaration of independence. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 4, 2019 Mr. VISCLOSKY (for himself, Mr. BANKS, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. WRIGHT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Congratulating the peoples of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic on the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, on the 26th anniversary of their countries’ independence, and on the 101st anniversary of Czecho- slovakia’s declaration of independence. Whereas, on January 8, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson’s ‘‘Fourteen Points’’ address to a joint session of Congress called for the free ‘‘autonomous development’’ of the peo- ples of Austria-Hungary and became the basis for the founding of an independent Czech-Slovak nation-state; Whereas, on September 3, 1918, the United States recog- nized the Czecho-Slovak National Council in Paris as a VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:48 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR618.IH HR618 jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 618 IH de facto government at war with the German and Austro- Hungarian Empires; Whereas, on October 14, 1918, the Czecho-Slovak National Council formed a provisional government, which declared its independence from Austria-Hungary on October 18, 1918; Whereas the peoples of the present-day Czech Republic and the present-day Slovak Republic proclaimed their inde- pendence in the common state of the Republic of Czecho- slovakia on October 28 and October 30, 1918; Whereas, on November 12, 1918, the United States and Czechoslovakia established formal diplomatic relations; Whereas the United States never recognized Nazi Germany’s annexation of the Czech Sudetenland in October 1938, the subsequent establishment of a German protectorate over Bohemia and Moravia, or the creation of the Ger- man puppet Slovak state in March 1939; Whereas the Slovak and Czech resistance movements against the Nazi occupation, with the support of the Czecho- slovak government-in-exile, launched the Slovak National Uprising in August 1944 and the Prague uprising in May 1945, accelerating the collapse of the Third Reich and demonstrating the courage, patriotism, and freedom-lov- ing spirit of the Czech and Slovak peoples; Whereas the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized power from the democratically elected Government of Czechoslovakia in February 1948; Whereas, on August 20, 1968, twenty Soviet and Warsaw Pact divisions invaded Czechoslovakia in order to crush the ‘‘Prague Spring’’, a peaceful popular movement call- ing for greater political and economic liberty that fol- VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:48 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR618.IH HR618 jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 618 IH lowed the appointment of Alexander Dubcek as First Sec- retary of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party; Whereas in the nonviolent Velvet Revolution of November 1989, the peoples of Czechoslovakia overthrew 40 years of totalitarian communist rule and have since established vibrant, pluralistic, democratic political systems based upon freedom of speech, a free press, free and fair elec- tions, the rule of law, and individual rights, values em- bodied by Czechoslovakia’s first post-communist Presi- dent Va´clav Havel; Whereas, on January 1, 1993, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic were formally created as independent na- tion-states after a peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia; Whereas the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on March 12, 1999, and March 29, 2004, respectively, and have made significant contributions to NATO operations around the world; and Whereas the peoples of the United States, the Czech Repub- lic, and the Slovak Republic have forged a special rela- tionship based on mutual respect, close cooperation, and shared values of democracy, the rule of law, economic lib- erty, and individual rights and responsibility: Now, there- fore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) commends the peoples of the Czech Repub- 2 lic and the Slovak Republic for their considerable 3 achievements over the past 30 years since the fall of 4 communist dictatorship in building free, democratic, 5 and prosperous societies; 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:48 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR618.IH HR618 jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 618 IH (2) congratulates the peoples of the Czech Re- 1 public and the Slovak Republic on the 26th anniver- 2 sary of their independence and on the 101st anniver- 3 sary of Czechoslovakia’s independence; 4 (3) expresses profound gratitude for the sac- 5 rifices of the Czech and Slovak peoples in support of 6 NATO operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere; and 7 (4) reaffirms the strong historical and cultural 8 ties that bind the Czech, Slovak, and American peo- 9 ples together, and expresses the United States con- 10 tinued commitment to a free, peaceful, and pros- 11 perous Europe. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:48 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR618.IH HR618 jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS