Speech #870091950

Mr. Speaker. it was my privilege and pleasure to speak in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of first mass deportation sponsored by the Joint Baltic States Freedom Committee of Greater New York at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace Center in New York City last month. I would like to commend to my colleagues the excellent resolution adopted at that meeting. This resolution serves as a reminder that Soviet aggression against the Baltic States is still going dn denying the right of selfdetermination to the Baltic nations and suppression of their independence and freedom: The Estonians. Latvians. and Lithuanians of New Yorkloyal citizens and permanent residents of the United States of Americagathered on this 18th of June 1961V at the Carnegie Endowment International Center in New York. to commemorate the anniversary of the Soviet occupation of the Baltic States and of the first mass deportations of their citizens to SiberiaRecalling Soviet aggression against the Baltic States. resulting in the suppression of their independence and freedom. and the crimes of genocide perpetuated by Soviet Russia in Estonia. Latvia. and Lithuania. Considering that the continuation of Soviet colonial rule in the Baltic States means the denial of the right to selfdetermination to the Baltic nations and the prolongation of the Soviet genocide policy. in overt or covert form. Stating that annually thousands of Baltic youth are being deported to the socalled virgin lands under the guise of "voluntary labor." harshly exploited. as well as submitted to pressures to settle in the alien wilderness. Reminding that large numbers of Estonians. Latvians. and Lithuanians are still being forcibly detained in the Siberian labor camp regions. Emphasizing that the former Baltic inmates of Soviet concentration and labor camps. who have been allowed to return to their homelands. are exposed to manifold discriminations. Pointing out that the new Soviet law. ostensibly directed against antisocial elements. can be easily applied against actual or suspected antagonists of the regime and A5878 might be used as justification for new deportations. Resolved1. To renew their solemn protest against the usurpation by Soviet Russia of the sovereign rights of the Baltic nations and the transformation of the once progressive and prosperous Baltic States into colonies of the Soviet Union. 2. To ask the governments of the free world. and especially that of the United States. to undertake all peaceful ways and means to restore the exercise of the right of selfdetermination in the Baltic countries and in the rest of eastcentral Europe. 3. To demand that the problem of Soviet colonial rule in the Baltic States be placed on the agenda of the General Assembly of the United Nations. 4. To ask the United Nations to put an end to genocide practices of the Soviet Government in the Baltic States. to repatriate the deportees. and to create legal and material conditions for the reunification of separated families. 5. To draw the attention of newly emerged states of Africa and Asia. former colonial possessions of Western Powers. to the evils of Soviet colonialism in the Baltic States and to the perils of Soviet encroachment on their recently acquired independence and freedom. and 6. To renew their dedication to the cause of liberty of their nations and to reaffirm their determination to continue. in spiritual community with their brethren in homelands and in fraternal cooperation with other captive nations of EastCentral Europe. the struggle against Soviet occupation and oppression.