On the recordMarch 10, 2011
I rise to speak in support of a bipartisan resolution that has been submitted by our colleague, Senator Durbin, and of which I am proud to be a cosponsor, which concerns the situation in the country of Belarus. As the winds of democratic change have been sweeping now across North Africa and the Middle East ousting autocratic rulers who have been long entrenched there, it is important for us to remember there is still one remaining dictatorship in Europe, and that is in the country of Belarus. In the 20 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, Belarus's neighbors to the north and west have become successful, prosperous democracies. But, tragically, while Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia have broken the chains of tyranny and joined the flagship institutions of the Euro-Atlantic world, NATO, and the European Union, Belarus and its people have been left behind--held back by its despot ruler Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled his country through repression and rigged elections for nearly two decades. Some in the United States and Europe had hoped in recent years that Lukashenko might be prepared to open up Belarus and change his ways. These hopes, however, came to an abrupt end on December 19 of last year when Belarus held Presidential elections.
