Speech #870209777

Mr. Speaker. on this 21st anniversary of the first mass deportations from the three Baltic StatesLithuania. Latvia. and Estoniawe extend our sympathy to the tragic victims of heartless Soviet tyranny and acknowledge our continuing support for their liberation. With the influx of the Soviet Army in 1940 began an erosion of religious and civil liberties that culminated in the mass deportations of thousands among the populations of the Baltic States on June 14 and 15. 1941. There had been no warning. The reasons for the seizures were pure fabrication. Many of the exiles have never been heard from since. But the history of tragedy began even earlier and continued even longer.