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