SAMPLE letter to Senators and Members of Congress

The Honorable  X 
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator  X :

Every year, Lithuanian-Americans gather to celebrate the independence of the land of our heritage, Lithuania. This year, on February 16th we are celebrating the 83rd anniversary of the independence of Lithuania and the 748th year of Lithuania's statehood. We also remember with gratitude that our country, the United States, refused to recognize as legitimate the forcible annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union in 1940.

Since 1990, when Lithuania reclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union, the members of the Lithuanian-American Community of  X  have supported with our time, energy, and resources Lithuania's efforts to establish democracy within its borders, to develop a free market economy, and to build up a national defense system capable of defending Lithuania's nascent democratic way of life. We are proud that Lithuania has contributed resources and personnel to the NATO peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia and Kosovo, thereby doing its fair share to maintain peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic community.

We have applauded Lithuania's efforts and success at cultivating friendly relations with its neighbors, including Russia.

Lithuania has chosen as its priority admission to membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It has created an effective defense force based on NATO standards and will allocate to defense close to two percent of its Gross National Product by the end of 2001. Seeing the concrete steps that Lithuania is taking toward meeting NATO standards for admission, the Lithuanian-American Community approves that some of our tax dollars be used for assisting Lithuania and the other Baltic countries (Latvia and Estonia) with upgrading their defense capability.

On May 19, 2000, Lithuania hosted Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania, in Lithuanians capital, Vilnius, and joined them in signing a declaration of acceptance of the fundamental and common values of the Euro-Atlantic community. The Vilnius Nine also pledged to work together for a free, prosperous, and undivided Europe. They expressed their hope that, at the NATO Summit in 2002, those countries that have met NATO standards for membership would be invited to become members of NATO.

The Lithuanian American Community believes that an invitation should be extended at the next NATO Summit to any or all of the Vilnius Nine which meets the admissions criteria for NATO membership. We especially urge that Lithuania and any or both of the other two Baltic countries that meet NATO admission standards be invited at the Summit.

Admitting new members would be beneficial to the Alliance, and thus to the United States, in several ways. Because sufficient defense-specific resources are among the admission criteria, new members will add resources to the Alliance for controlling and defusing potential conflict situations in the region. When new nations join NATO, they will have to comply with established traditions that are grounded in democracy, based on the rule of law, and require mutual cooperation; their compliance will effectively expand the zone in which these traditions are operative. Non-NATO nations of Europe know that NATO is non-aggressive toward its neighbors, and NATO is not perceived as a threat by much of the population of Russia.

On January 16, 1998, the United States signed a U.S. Charter of Partnership with Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, creating an effective framework for deepening and broadening the relations between the United States and Lithuania and the two other Baltic countries. Given the Partnership's two-years of success, the Lithuanian-American Community trusts that the U.S. will continue to implement its part of the Partnership.

We applaud the Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus, co-chaired in the 106th Congress by Senators Slade Gorton and Richard Durbin, which monitors developments relating to the Charter and to other aspects of U.S.-Lithuanian relations. As your constituents, we urge you to join the Senate Baltic Caucus in the lO7th Congress, so that you may monitor developments in the Baltic region and so that we can rest assured that you are representing our concerns in Congress. We are eagerly awaiting word from you that you have decided to become a member of the Baltic Caucus. Thank you for your attention to our request.

The Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus members in the 106th Congress were: Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Slade Gorton (R-WA), Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT), Charles E. Grassley (R-IA), Charles S. Robb (D-VA), Gordon H. Smith (R-OR), Spencer Abraham (R-MI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Rod Grams(R-MN), George V. Voinovich (R-OH) .

We enclose a resolution, which was unanimously adopted by our membership on. Please be assured that the  X  Chapter of the Lithuanian American Community, Inc. appreciates the important work you do as our representative in the United States House of Representatives.

Sincerely,

_______________________________________
President Lithuanian American Community, Inc.
 X  Chapter

Enclosure: Resolution