Orrin Hatch: “amidst the focus and sustained attention we have all had on the matters of the first global war of the 21st century, we…”

“amidst the focus and sustained attention we have all had on the matters of the first global war of the 21st century, we do not wish to miss the 50th year anniversary of one of the most important tools developed in our foreign policy arsenal in the 20th century. I am referring to the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of Radio Free Europe, which first broadcast its full schedule of radio programming into central and eastern Europe on May 1, International Workers' Day, one of the most famous communist holidays, in 1951. Two years later, Radio Liberty began its broadcasting programs to the peoples of the Soviet Union. An era of puncturing the state-imposed silence of totalitarian regimes had begun. Today, I am happy to submit a resolution commemorating the 50 years of the ``Radios,'' as they have come to be known. The Radios were the main component in what some would call America's propaganda efforts. Along with the Voice of America, which broadcasts about American affairs throughout the world, revealing to audiences restricted from freedom of the media the real stories of this country, the Radios were a central tool in broadcasting local news and information back into the captive countries of central and eastern Europe and Eurasia.”