Recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the Independence of Bulgaria

Floor Speech

RECOGNIZING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF BULGARIA -- (House of Representatives - September 09, 2008)

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Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1383, and I commend our colleague, Mr. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, for introducing it. I appreciate Mr. WILSON's formation of the Bulgaria Cancus to promote the partnership of Bulgaria and America. Bulgaria declared its independence 100 years ago, on September 22nd, 1908.

Like so much of the rest of Europe, however, Bulgaria then suffered through a very difficult and tumultuous 20th Century.

After suffering through two world wars, Bulgaria was then trapped for over four decades behind the ``Iron Curtain'' that fell across Eastern Europe, and its people suffered from the repression and stagnation that accompanied the imposition of the Bulgarian communist regime by the former Soviet Union.

After the communist bloc in Eastern Europe fell apart, Bulgaria was at last able to hold a truly free election in June 1990.

It then faced fresh difficulties, however, as it went through a period of social and economic turmoil that culminated in a severe economic an financial crisis in 1996 and 1997.

With the help of the international community, the Bulgarian government initiated a series of difficult but necessary economic reforms.

Those reforms continue even today, but their results so far have helped Bulgaria noticeably improve its economic situation.

In fact, according to the World Bank, in 2006 Bulgaria attracted the highest levels of foreign direct investment--as a share of GDP--of all of the countries of Eastern Europe.

Challenges remain, but the market reforms undertaken so far have pointed Bulgaria in the right direction.

Bulgaria must also be commended for the political reforms it has implemented since 1990.

Right at the start, in 1991, the country adopted a new constitution, which created a parliamentary democracy that limited the powers of the President and also balanced those powers against the position of the Prime Minister--with the Prime Minister ultimately held accountable to the legislature.

So, Bulgaria has made progress toward a future of democracy and economic prosperity, but it nevertheless faces continuing challenges, including a rather serious problem in the form of corruption and organized crime.

We remain supportive of Bulgaria's efforts to address those twin scourges, and I note that, in the wake of very strong concerns expressed by the European Union, the Bulgarian government has indeed begun to reform its Interior Ministry and has created a State Agency for National Security to fight such corruption and organized crime.

We certainly wish it great success in that specific effort.

Finally, I note that, while continuing with its reform efforts at home, Bulgaria has also become an active member of the international community, contributing military personnel to participate in international missions in the countries of Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Furthermore, in a very important step in March 2004, Bulgaria became a formal ally of the United States by becoming a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization--NATO.

In its new role--as a member of the NATO Alliance--Bulgaria has proven

itself to be a constructive and positive force in working for stability in the Black Sea region, and we are grateful for that.

This year, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary as an independent state, we commend Bulgaria on the great progress it hade in just the past eighteen years.

I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution honoring the independence of our friend and ally, Bulgaria.

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