Chris Smith: “Mr. Speaker, I rise to extend my congratulations in support of the brave and courageous people of East Timor. Yesterday…”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to extend my congratulations in support of the brave and courageous people of East Timor. Yesterday May 20, 2002, was their independence day. East Timor is now officially the first new nation of the third millennium. The people of East Timor have every right, Mr. Speaker, to be proud of their newly won independence, because their road to freedom was long and arduous, full of intense suffering and death. It entailed not only 400 years of colonial rule, but also 24 years of brutal military occupation by Indonesia that included massacres, forced sterilization, and attempts at cultural annihilation. Indonesia's tyrannical rule over East Timor reached its zenith during the 1999 Scorched Earth campaign conducted by the Indonesian-backed militia with ties to the Indonesian military. Women were beaten and raped, families were separated, and nearly three-fourths of the nation's infrastructure was destroyed. According to U.N. estimates, over 500,000 people were displaced. Against tremendous odds, however, the brave people of East Timor persevered and triumphed.”