IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 496 
Recognizing the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 2, 2009 
Mr. POE of Texas submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin 
Wall. 
Whereas, November 9, 2009, marks the 20th anniversary of 
the fall of the Berlin Wall and the symbolic end of the 
Cold War; 
Whereas the Cold War was an enduring struggle between 
communism and democracy throughout the second half of 
the 20th century; 
Whereas the last United States President to speak at the 
Brandenburg Gate prior to the destruction of the Berlin 
Wall was President Ronald Reagan, who, in June 1987, 
stated, ‘‘General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, 
if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern 
Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! 
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•HRES 496 IH 
Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down 
this wall!’’; 
Whereas two years later, in September 1989, protests that 
the East Germans called the ‘‘Peaceful Revolution’’ broke 
out, with protestors at first chanting ‘‘We want out!’’, 
and then gradually changing that protest cry to ‘‘We’re 
staying here!’’, demonstrating their desire for democracy 
in their part of Germany; 
Whereas, on November 9, 1989, in response to protests that 
had grown to include over 1,000,000 people in Berlin’s 
Alexanderplatz, Gunter Schabowski, the communist East 
German Minister of Propaganda, announced that the bor-
der would be opened for ‘‘private trips abroad’’; 
Whereas thousands of people in East Berlin immediately 
flooded the checkpoints at the Berlin Wall and demanded 
entry into West Berlin causing the overwhelmed East 
German Border Guards to open the border checkpoints to 
allow people to cross into West Berlin; 
Whereas people in West Berlin enthusiastically greeted those 
coming across from East Berlin, dancing atop the Berlin 
Wall and hammering chunks out of it until a section 
opened through which more East Germans walked and 
shouted out ‘‘Freedom! Freedom! Just once, Freedom!’’; 
Whereas over 400,000,000 people were freed from the bond-
age of communism at the end of the Cold War in coun-
tries then known as the Soviet Union, East Germany, Po-
land, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Lat-
via, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, 
Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, 
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan; 
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•HRES 496 IH 
Whereas the victory of the United States in the Cold War will 
signify freedom from oppression for decades to come; 
Whereas Berlin, Germany, will celebrate the 20th anniversary 
of the fall of the Berlin Wall with the ‘‘Festival of Free-
dom’’; and 
Whereas the fall of the Berlin Wall was one of the most sig-
nificant events of the 20th century and symbolized the 
triumph of democracy over communism: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the 20th anniversary of the fall 
of the Berlin Wall; 
(2) celebrates 20 years of freedom from the 
bondage of communism with the people of the 
former communist countries; and 
(3) acknowledges the symbolic triumph of de-
mocracy over communism. 
Æ 
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