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