Tom Lantos: “I want to acknowledge the cooperation of our distinguished colleague from Colorado, a member of the International…”

“I want to acknowledge the cooperation of our distinguished colleague from Colorado, a member of the International Relations Committee, Mr. Tancredo, for his excellent cooperation and work in behalf of H. Res. 191. I also want to thank my friend Chairman Henry Hyde for his support in bringing this resolution to the floor today. It is unconscionable, Mr. Speaker, that a decade and a half after the end of the communist regime in Romania we are still dealing with the problem of the restitution of religious property. The communist government in Romania, as well as communist governments elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, wanted no challenge to their authority, and throughout that area all religious groups were systematically and meticulously brought under government control. As part of that process, most religious properties were confiscated by the communist governments for state or party use. In Romania, that amounted to the government seizure of literally thousands of religious schools, hospitals, orphanages, and other properties that religious communities used for charitable and humanitarian purposes. With the fall of the communist governments in 1989, new democratic governments have had to deal with the restitution of this property to the religious communities. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the process in Romania has been slower and less equitable than most other post- communist countries.…”