25 Years since Havel’s Speech to the Congress

On March 18, Speaker John Boehner and House leaders gathered at the Freedom Foyer to lay a wreath at the base of Vaclav Havel’s bust to commemorate 25 years since his legendary address to the joint session of Congress. Vaclav Havel Library Foundation representatives – Joseph Balaz, Elliot Berke and Stephen Grand – were in attendance. 

In his remarks, U. S. Speaker Boehner spoke highly of Vaclav Havel’s lasting impression in the U. S. saying that Havel’s bust “is also a permanent tribute to the friendship between our countries.” Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Petr Gandalovic, spoke of Havel’s intellectual legacy living on in institutions and projects such as the Vaclav Havel Library in Prague and the Václav Havel Library Foundation in New York.

Vaclav Havel was received at the U.S. Congress and delivered his speech to its joint session only two months after being elected the President and three months after the Velvet Revolution in former Czechoslovakia. His bust was dedicated in November 2014 and stands next to the busts of Winston Churchill, Lajos Kosuth, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington.

Photos by: Robert Rehak

Link to Havel’s address:

http://www.c-span.org/video/?10917-1/czechoslovakian-president-address