Patrick Kennedy: “this week, on the other side of the globe, the world celebrates the creation of a new democracy, the Democratic Republic…”

“this week, on the other side of the globe, the world celebrates the creation of a new democracy, the Democratic Republic of East Timor. I congratulate and honor the people of this island nation for their perseverance and for the triumph of freedom over oppression. The effort to bring self-determination to East Timor was a dream back in 1994, when I first came to the House. But now, today, it is a reality. Since coming to Congress, I have seen how the East Timorese people have stood against tremendous odds, resisted military rule, despite the killing of one-third of the population in the 1970s and the oppression and massacres of subsequent years. There have been many of us in Congress dedicated to the plight of the East Timorese largely because of the information we learned over years of meetings and visits with the residents of East Timor. I personally had the opportunity to go to East Timor to visit with Bishop Belo, one of the two Nobel Peace prize winners. They and others were willing to give me their stories, tell me what was going on. In that context, Mr. Speaker, and with the work of groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, and I might add the Catholic Conference of Bishops was a tremendous help in this effort, as well as the Indonesian Human Rights Network, and, of course, East Timor Action Network, all who were instrumental, everyone should feel very proud of this effort and outcome.”