IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 618 
Congratulating the peoples of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic 
on the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, on the 26th anniversary 
of their countries’ independence, and on the 101st anniversary of Czecho-
slovakia’s declaration of independence. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 4, 2019 
Mr. VISCLOSKY (for himself, Mr. BANKS, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
and Mr. WRIGHT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Congratulating the peoples of the Czech Republic and the 
Slovak Republic on the 30th anniversary of the Velvet 
Revolution, on the 26th anniversary of their countries’ 
independence, and on the 101st anniversary of Czecho-
slovakia’s declaration of independence. 
Whereas, on January 8, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson’s 
‘‘Fourteen Points’’ address to a joint session of Congress 
called for the free ‘‘autonomous development’’ of the peo-
ples of Austria-Hungary and became the basis for the 
founding of an independent Czech-Slovak nation-state; 
Whereas, on September 3, 1918, the United States recog-
nized the Czecho-Slovak National Council in Paris as a 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:48 Oct 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR618.IH
HR618
jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
•HRES 618 IH 
de facto government at war with the German and Austro- 
Hungarian Empires; 
Whereas, on October 14, 1918, the Czecho-Slovak National 
Council formed a provisional government, which declared 
its independence from Austria-Hungary on October 18, 
1918; 
Whereas the peoples of the present-day Czech Republic and 
the present-day Slovak Republic proclaimed their inde-
pendence in the common state of the Republic of Czecho-
slovakia on October 28 and October 30, 1918; 
Whereas, on November 12, 1918, the United States and 
Czechoslovakia established formal diplomatic relations; 
Whereas the United States never recognized Nazi Germany’s 
annexation of the Czech Sudetenland in October 1938, 
the subsequent establishment of a German protectorate 
over Bohemia and Moravia, or the creation of the Ger-
man puppet Slovak state in March 1939; 
Whereas the Slovak and Czech resistance movements against 
the Nazi occupation, with the support of the Czecho-
slovak government-in-exile, launched the Slovak National 
Uprising in August 1944 and the Prague uprising in May 
1945, accelerating the collapse of the Third Reich and 
demonstrating the courage, patriotism, and freedom-lov-
ing spirit of the Czech and Slovak peoples; 
Whereas the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized 
power from the democratically elected Government of 
Czechoslovakia in February 1948; 
Whereas, on August 20, 1968, twenty Soviet and Warsaw 
Pact divisions invaded Czechoslovakia in order to crush 
the ‘‘Prague Spring’’, a peaceful popular movement call-
ing for greater political and economic liberty that fol-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:48 Oct 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR618.IH
HR618
jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
•HRES 618 IH 
lowed the appointment of Alexander Dubcek as First Sec-
retary of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party; 
Whereas in the nonviolent Velvet Revolution of November 
1989, the peoples of Czechoslovakia overthrew 40 years 
of totalitarian communist rule and have since established 
vibrant, pluralistic, democratic political systems based 
upon freedom of speech, a free press, free and fair elec-
tions, the rule of law, and individual rights, values em-
bodied by Czechoslovakia’s first post-communist Presi-
dent Va´clav Havel; 
Whereas, on January 1, 1993, the Czech Republic and the 
Slovak Republic were formally created as independent na-
tion-states after a peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia; 
Whereas the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic joined 
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on March 12, 
1999, and March 29, 2004, respectively, and have made 
significant contributions to NATO operations around the 
world; and 
Whereas the peoples of the United States, the Czech Repub-
lic, and the Slovak Republic have forged a special rela-
tionship based on mutual respect, close cooperation, and 
shared values of democracy, the rule of law, economic lib-
erty, and individual rights and responsibility: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) commends the peoples of the Czech Repub-
lic and the Slovak Republic for their considerable 
achievements over the past 30 years since the fall of 
communist dictatorship in building free, democratic, 
and prosperous societies; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:48 Oct 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR618.IH
HR618
jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS