Sam Brownback: “I rise today to mark a milestone in the history of the Georgian nation towards consolidating its independence and…”

“I rise today to mark a milestone in the history of the Georgian nation towards consolidating its independence and sovereignty and the progress Georgia has made in moving towards becoming a democratic government with a free market economy. On the 9th of April 1999, Georgian Orthodox Good Friday, Georgia commemorated a tragic anniversary: ten years ago on that day in 1989, twenty-two people died for daring to express their desire for the independence of their country. During a peaceful demonstration in Tbilisi, Soviet troops moved in on the unarmed crowd with tanks. Soldiers carrying field engineer spades bludgeoned these brave people to death--all of them were unarmed and many of them were women. The troops also used an unknown type of poisonous gas which put thousands of people in hospital. These people paid a heavy price for expressing their desire for independence. This week, almost exactly 10 years later, Georgia is celebrating another major step towards the goal of full independence for which those people died: this time economic independence. On April 17th, Georgia celebrated the inauguration of the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline. With this step, Georgia has gained another significant measure of independence. This is a long way to have come in just ten years.”