Chuck Grassley: “a few days ago, I stood here and congratulated Lithuania on its Independence Day. Well, there is another Baltic State…”

“a few days ago, I stood here and congratulated Lithuania on its Independence Day. Well, there is another Baltic State that had Independence Day yesterday, the country of Estonia. Just as we celebrate Independence Day on the anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, yesterday marked the anniversary of Estonia's Declaration of Independence in 1918. The United States established diplomatic relations with Estonia 4 years later in 1922, and that recognition and relationship with Estonia has continued uninterrupted until today. That is right. We even had accredited Estonian diplomats working in the United States throughout the 50 years that Estonia was illegally occupied by the Soviet Union and Moscow considered Estonia as a legitimate part of the Soviet Union. So we never gave up on Estonia's freedom. That is something that we Americans can be proud of: standing by our friends. Today, Estonia is very free, very prosperous, and very pro-American.”