Speech #990154712

I believe that the proclamation of the township serves important purposes. First. it recognizes the valuable contribution LithuanianAmericans have made to the wellbeing of the Lyons community and to the Nation as a whole. It also reveals the fact that Lithuanian immigrants to the United States enjoy freedom and independence that their friends and relatives in Lithuania do not have. Since 1795. the sovereignty and independence of the Lithuanian people have been interrupted by the ravages of war and by Russian domination. After a brief period of liberation in the postWorld War I era. the country fell once again under Russian rule. Today. Lithuania is dominated and oppressed by a Communist dictatorship. Soviet mass immigration and the forced use of the Russian language has inflicted serious harm on the countrys language. culture. religion. and history. In short. the Lithuanian national identity is in danger of being overwhelmed by Russification and Sovietization. It is actions like the Lyons township proclamation that remind us of our Nations rich ethnic heritage and the freedom and independence immigrants seek here.