H. Res. 641 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
November 4, 2009. 
Whereas Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) was 
founded in 1949 by the National Committee for a Free 
Europe with the mission to promote democratic values 
and institutions by broadcasting unbiased and factual in-
formation and ideas to audiences behind the communist 
‘‘Iron Curtain’’, and transmitted its first program to the 
former Czechoslovakia on July 4, 1950; 
Whereas many Central European and Russian leaders, in-
cluding Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, and the late 
Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation, have testified to 
the important role RFE/RL broadcasts played in ending 
the Cold War; 
Whereas the former President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, 
nominated RFE/RL for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991; 
Whereas Nobel laureate and former President of Poland, 
Lech Walesa, testified to the role played by RFE/RL in 
Poland’s struggle for freedom when he stated that its in-
fluence ‘‘cannot even be described. Would there be earth 
without the sun?’’; 
Whereas RFE/RL programs were so comprehensive that com-
munist authorities relied on secret transcripts of the
•HRES 641 EH 
broadcasts for information they could not obtain from the 
local media they themselves controlled; 
Whereas RFE/RL was subjected to efforts to undermine its 
operations through offensive actions launched by com-
munist regimes and intended to discredit the broadcasts; 
Whereas the Soviet KGB and Warsaw Pact intelligence serv-
ices penetrated the radio stations with their spies, jailed 
sources, and even resorted to violence in attempts to in-
timidate RFE/RL staff; 
Whereas RFE/RL Bulgarian Service correspondent Georgi 
Markov was murdered in London in 1978, evidently by 
the Bulgarian communist intelligence service; 
Whereas the Romanian communist security service detonated 
a bomb at RFE/RL’s headquarters in Munich, West Ger-
many, in 1981, critically injuring six employees; 
Whereas today, after having played a significant role in the 
collapse of communism in the former soviet union, RFE/ 
RL continues to provide news, information, and open dis-
cussion of domestic and international issues to countries 
where free and independent media are not permitted, or 
are not yet fully established; 
Whereas RFE/RL is available via FM, AM, shortwave and 
satellite radio, and employs a range of newer technologies 
including SMS text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, and 
other interactive social media; 
Whereas RFE/RL broadcasts in 28 languages to 30 million 
listeners in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, 
the Caucasus, the Middle East, and Central and South-
west Asia;
•HRES 641 EH 
Whereas during the June 2009 presidential election in Iran, 
RFE/RL’s ‘‘Radio Farda’’ provided 24 hour news cov-
erage of the post-election protests; 
Whereas beginning in 2002, RFE/RL began ‘‘Radio Azadi’’, 
reaching nearly 50 percent of the Afghan people in the 
Pashto and Dari languages and making RFE/RL the 
largest international broadcaster in Afghanistan; 
Whereas in August 2009, RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi hosted a 
historic presidential debate featuring President Hamid 
Karzai and his two top opponents, the first ever in Af-
ghanistan’s to feature an incumbent Afghan President; 
Whereas in early 2010, RFE/RL will begin Pashto language 
broadcasting to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, 
including the Swat Valley, promoting democratic values 
and institutions by providing the people of the region a 
source of independent and factual media to compete in 
the battle of ideas with those radical elements that have 
disrupted the peace in the Afghan-Pakistan border re-
gion; 
Whereas RFE/RL employees and freelance journalists are 
subject to intimidation and oppression by the authorities 
of regimes in many countries to which RFE/RL broad-
casts; and 
Whereas RFE/RL has a proven history of promoting freedom 
and liberty in oppressive and autocratic regimes through 
news broadcasts based upon the principle that the first 
requirement of democracy is a well-informed citizenry: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the 60th anniversary of the founding 
of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and
•HRES 641 EH 
honors its contribution to promoting freedom and liberty 
around the world; and 
(2) commends the employees and reporters of RFE/ 
RL for their commitment to provide fair and unbiased 
news to people living under oppressive regimes. 
Attest: 
Clerk.