Marshall Sanford: “Mr. Chairman, last month the people of India celebrated their 50th anniversary of independence and democracy. It takes…”

“Mr. Chairman, last month the people of India celebrated their 50th anniversary of independence and democracy. It takes perhaps a special effort for many Americans to imagine when our democracy was only 50 years old and the great hurdles we had to overcome to try to perfect our legal, political, economic, and social systems. India today is the world's largest democracy, 950 million people. India is a multi-religious, multi-ethnic society, actively seeking to build a common national identity and overcome religious and ethnic conflict. In that half century, India has struggled to overcome the legacy of feudalism, followed by colonialism, and all of the problems of underdevelopment and unequal development, including problems of population growth, capital formation, technology development, and infrastructure development. They have shaped all of the basic institutions of a democratic system, including perhaps most significantly many independent, nongovernmental institutions and organizations dedicated to involving and empowering people. I rise here today in support of aid to India.”