IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 641 
Recognizing the 60th anniversary of the founding of Radio Free Europe/ 
Radio Liberty. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 14, 2009 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. INGLIS, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. POE of 
Texas, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, and Mr. BILI-
RAKIS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the 60th anniversary of the founding of Radio 
Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 
Whereas Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) was 
founded in 1949 with the mission to promote democratic 
values and institutions by broadcasting unbiased and fac-
tual information and ideas to audiences behind the com-
munist ‘‘Iron Curtain’’; 
Whereas many East European and Russian leaders, including 
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; 
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•HRES 641 IH 
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 
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 communist Soviet KGB and Warsaw Pact intel-
ligence services penetrated the radio stations with their 
spies, jailed sources, and even resorted to violence in at-
tempts to intimidate 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, RFE/RL continues to provide 
news, information, and open discussion of domestic and 
international issues to countries where free and inde-
pendent media are not permitted, or are not yet fully es-
tablished; 
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•HRES 641 IH 
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; 
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 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 re-
gimes. 
Æ 
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