Mr. Speaker. today we commemorate. with Americans of Latvian. Estonian. and Lithuanian descent. the tragic deportations of peoples from the Baltic States by the Soviets in 1940. The seizure of the Baltic Republics marked the first step in the enslavement of nearly a billion people in Europe and Asiaa pattern which unfortunately has become all too familiar: infiltration. the presence of the Red army. sham elections. then virtual or actual incorporation into the Soviet Union. In our preoccupation to prevent fresh Communist advances. we sometimes forget the fate of these early victims of the Kremlins aggression. In todays effort to accurately evaluate the potential menace of communism and to gage Its toll upon the freedom of the worlds peoples. it is fitting that we remember the valiant persecuted people who are victims of the illegal seizure of Latvia.
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deportations