Lee Terry: “today I want to call attention to the June 25 Bulgarian and July 3 Albanian parliamentary elections. Voters in these…”

“today I want to call attention to the June 25 Bulgarian and July 3 Albanian parliamentary elections. Voters in these developing economies deserve the opportunity to exercise the freedoms that were unavailable to them for so long. As the world's greatest democracy, we should strive to foster the ideals of freedom in these developing democracies. Free and fair elections are the first essential step in this long and arduous process. As a member of the International Anti-Piracy Caucus, I am a proud supporter of international intellectual property protection. As Albania and Bulgaria move through the election process, they should understand that part of the process of becoming free is making sure that applicable laws are in force both locally and internationally. Failure to punish those that disregard laws will mean that these countries will not become accepted players on the world stage for some time to come. Part of the process for providing free and fair elections is respecting and enforcing the intellectual property rights of American businesses assisting in these elections. Therefore, I call upon the sitting governments of these two nations, including their justice ministries and central election commissions, to condemn the distribution of counterfeit Gallup polls that are being used to distort the democratic process during their parliamentary elections. Promotion of democracy is one of the core pillars of our national security policy.…”