Mr. Speaker. today. we commemorate a sad event in the annals of world history. Twentyfive years ago. 60.000 men. women. and children were dragged from their homes in the middle of the night and deported to the most forbidding regions of the Soviet Union. This act occurred not in Nazi Germany. but in the Baltic States of Lithuania. Latvia. and Estonia. The cruel fate of these people was dictated by the Russian oppressors who had some months before extinguished the flame of democracy and freedom In the Baltic States. Unfortunately. these 60.000 individuals represent only a small fraction of the deportations and deprivations effected by the Soviets over the years. The Baltic States have endured a cruel fate reserved for only those whose attachment to liberty and personal freedom refuse to die after years of subjugation and oppression. To demonstrate condemnation of the Soviet invasion of the Baltic States and the methods employed to attempt complete political and individual subjugation. the U.S. Government has never recognized the Soviet incorporation of these States. In response to this official policy of the greatest bastion of freedom in the world today. the Latvians. Lithuanians. and Estonians--both those living in their home States and those who have emigrated throughout the world--cling fiercely to the dream that their States will eventually be triumphantly restored to freedom and democracy. It is this determination and drive which will eventually defeat the crude and devious methods of the Soviet armed forces which today hold sway over the Baltic States. The Soviet attempts to debase and defile the national character of the Baltic nations will eventually cower in the face of these ideals and strengths of belief.
Keywords matched
deported deportations emigrated