 President of the United States. Watchful and protective care, granting to him good health, protection from all perils, and the wisdom necessary to lead their oppressors with your light of truth, charity, and kindness towards one another. And finally, bless. This must always be more. Indications of change coming from the freedoms. Today, we come together to declare again our solidarity with those whose nations have been captured by communism. This commemoration is in keeping with the vision of our crest. And that's what America is all about. And together, we intend to keep her that way. A member of my staff recently brought to my attention a document that reflects this traditional American commitment to the universality of human freedom. The document concerned the brutal intercession of Russian troops would have allowed the Hungarian nation to move toward liberty and independence. In 1852, Governor Koshu was traveling through the United States, speaking about the people of Hungary and their desperate struggle for freedom. One place he visited was Springfield, Illinois. Apparently, the Hungarian leader's speech aroused a fiery debate about America's international role among the people of Springfield. A vote was taken and the final resolution would be of the United States not to do any act or lay down any principle in regard to non-interventionism that shall prevent this court for the freedom fighters. Clearly, there is still a non-interven- He was to foster the legacy of those who came before us and to ensure America remains a champion of liberty and a force for good in order. I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for what you have done. I hesitate to mention any name because there are so many years to be done, so much. Those who suffer under communist oppression may not know our names, just as we don't know the names of every American who attended that Springfield Town Hall meeting back in 1852. Nevertheless, those behind the barbed wire, those who are separated from us by the killing zones and watchtowers, anyone else realize that communism is a failed philosophy, a theory that creates only misery, deprivation and oppression, wherever it's put into practice. People who live in the Soviet Union tell many funny stories, often as a form of underground protest. One is about the question, what is a communist? The answer, a person who has read the works of Marx. Today, we're being told that there are historic changes taking place in the Soviet Union, that the leadership is now pushing for openness and democratization. Well, last month, when I was in Berlin, I called on Soviet leader Gorbachev to prove to the world that his Glasnost campaign is more than words. I challenged him to tear down the Berlin Wall and to open the Brandenburg Gate to neighbors and allies. Let us hear that the so-called Brezhnev doctrine is no longer policy. The improvement of freedom and human rights is essential to progress between East and West. Petra Ruban, for example, is a prisoner in Special Regiment Labor Camp number 36-1, one of the most notorious of the Soviet gulags. In 1976, he fashioned a wooden replica of the Statue of Liberty, and for that was taken away. Why do Soviet aircraft still bomb villages in Afghanistan? Ground your helicopter gunships, take your troops home and let the people of Afghanistan solve their own problems. In Central America, over a billion dollars' worth of Soviet-blocked military hardware and other assistance was poured into Nicaragua last year alone. The communist regime in Nicaragua has been engaged in subversive aggression against its neighbors almost from its first days in Central America. A threat is too close to home to ignore or to be deluded by wishful thinking. It's too close to home to tolerate an on-again-off-again and vacillating congressional policy toward that regime. Just made my day. I just like on the offensive. We turned a corner in 1981, and if we have courage and are realistic in our approach to world affairs, freedom will not only survive, it will triumph. Furthermore, our economy is strong and our young people are filled with energy, creativity, and optimism. A general once said that about another generation. He used a word that I didn't feel in my position I could use, so they are the best darned. What I see in America today is that same character in spirit, that same love of freedom was evident back in that town hall meeting in Springfield in 1852. The final resolution from that town hall meeting.