Tom Lantos: “the appropriations bill covering the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State includes funding for Radio Free…”

“the appropriations bill covering the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State includes funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. I want to express my strong support for this appropriation. In the euphoria following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, many people initially thought that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was now part of the past and could be downsized or even closed. It was assumed that the surrogate radios had fulfilled their mission of serving as a substitute for free radio broadcasting that did not exist in these countries. But the events of the decade since the fall of the Berlin Wall have demonstrated that many of the Newly Independent States and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have serious political and economic problems. Authoritarian rule--some have suggested dictatorial rule--threatens the future of Belarus and Slovakia. Unresolved military conflicts have prevented progress in Tajikistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. In still other countries--including Russia, Ukraine, and Romania--political and economic reforms are far from complete. Throughout this area, government structures remain little reformed from Soviet times; on the contrary, they are extraordinarily more corrupt. Mr. Chairman, up to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, RFE/RL in general played a key role in bringing critical information to people who were systematically denied access to any other source of news.”