Mr. Speaker, in countries across the world, 1989 was the annus mirabilis, during which communism gave way peacefully to democracy. In April of that year, students and civilians across China began peaceful demonstrations in support of democracy. For the next six weeks, these protests were the pole star of freedom, guiding oppressed people across the communist world, but in China itself, the democracy movement was brutally crushed when 25 years ago today, the politburo ordered the army to attack its own unarmed civilians. Nobody knows exactly how many Chinese citizens were gunned down or crushed by tanks. Estimates range from 240 to 2,600.
For a quarter of a century, the PRC government has denied its responsibility. To this day, the government denies its civilians the basic freedoms that were sought by the martyrs of Tiananmen.
Let us never forget our responsibility to preserve the memory of those who were killed or imprisoned for their steadfast determination to bring forward democracy and human rights in China.