H.R. No. 2257
 
 
 
R E S O L U T I O N
         WHEREAS, June 12, 2017, marks the 30th anniversary of
  President Ronald Reagan's historic speech at the Berlin Wall, in
  which he boldly challenged the Communist rulers of the Soviet Union
  to tear down the wall and reunify East and West Berlin; and
         WHEREAS, In one of the darkest episodes of the Cold War, the
  Communist government of East Germany began building on August 13,
  1961, what they called an "Antifaschistischer Schutzwall," or
  "antifascist bulwark," across the center of the divided city of
  Berlin; the government claimed the wall was to keep Westerners from
  entering and undermining the Socialist state, but in reality, it
  was intended to keep East Berlin's disillusioned residents from
  escaping to the West; and
         WHEREAS, A makeshift wall was completed in two weeks, but it
  was eventually replaced by a structure of reinforced concrete, 12
  feet tall, 4 feet wide, and topped by an enormous pipe that made it
  almost impossible to climb over; behind the wall, East German
  officials created a floodlit no-man's-land called the "Death
  Strip," which was guarded by attack dogs, trip-wire machine guns,
  and soldiers with orders to shoot on sight; and
         WHEREAS, Over the years, many desperate East Germans tried to
  get over, under, or around this terrifying barrier; at least 171
  people were killed in the attempt, but somehow more than 5,000 East
  Germans, including 600 border guards, managed to escape; these
  brave individuals employed such extreme methods as jumping out of
  windows next to the wall, climbing over barbed wire, crawling
  through sewers, driving at high speed through unfortified
  checkpoints, or even floating over the boundary in hot air
  balloons; and
         WHEREAS, By the 1980s, the Berlin Wall was firmly fixed in the
  public imagination as a symbol of the failure of Communism and the
  desperate attempt of a foundering state to imprison its own
  citizens; the wall and the ideology it represented were roundly
  condemned by many world leaders, including Pope John Paul II,
  British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Polish Solidarity leader
  Lech Walesa, and the Czech writer and dissident Vaclav Havel, all of
  whom denounced Communism and the abuse of fundamental human rights
  taking place in the countries behind the Iron Curtain; and
         WHEREAS, Towering among these champions of liberty was
  President Ronald Reagan, who helped lead the effort to defeat
  Communism, and in June 1987, he traveled to Germany in order to
  speak at the Brandenburg Gate, only 100 yards from the wall itself;
  in his preparations for this monumental event, White House
  speechwriter Peter Robinson visited Berlin and spoke with Germans
  whose families had been torn apart by the wall, and he was inspired
  to include a line addressed directly to the general secretary of the
  Soviet Union, demanding the destruction of the wall; and
         WHEREAS, This appeal was controversial even within the Reagan
  administration, particularly among the staff of the State
  Department; in the final moments before the speech, as he was riding
  in his limousine to the wall, President Reagan told his deputy chief
  of staff Kenneth Duberstein that he was going to deliver the line
  anyway, saying with a smile, "The boys at State are going to kill
  me, but it's the right thing to do"; shortly thereafter, he spoke
  before a large assembly of Germans, and the crowd roared its
  appreciation when he reached the now-famous line, "Mr. Gorbachev,
  tear down this wall!"; and
         WHEREAS, A spark was lit, and only a few years later, the
  world saw the rapid collapse of Communism, not only in Germany and
  Eastern Europe, but eventually in the Soviet Union itself; at
  midnight on November 9, 1989, the East German authorities finally
  threw open the checkpoints along the wall, and millions of
  Berliners from both sides came together in what one historian
  called "the greatest street party in the history of the world";
  enthusiastic Germans climbed the wall and danced on top of it or
  attacked it with hammers and pickaxes; over the coming months, this
  symbol of tyranny was reduced to rubble, signaling the defeat of
  Communism and oppression and the triumph of democracy and
  independence; and
         WHEREAS, In the relentless march of human events, there are
  rare moments in which a single man's eloquence and moral conviction
  can inspire millions and embody a new spirit of liberty, and Ronald
  Reagan's daring address in Berlin was one such moment, worthy of
  remembrance by people around the world for as long as the love of
  freedom endures; now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas
  Legislature hereby commemorate the 30th anniversary of President
  Reagan's speech at the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987.
 
  Price
 
 
  ______________________________
  Speaker of the House     
 
         I certify that H.R. No. 2257 was adopted by the House on May
  25, 2017, by a non-record vote.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House