Whereas 2019 is the 70th anniversary of the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the 30th anniversary of historic transitions in Hungary, including the dismantling of the one-party Communist regime and the barbed wire fences that separated Hungary from its neighbors; Whereas 2019 is also the 75th anniversary of the deportation by Hungarian authorities of 437,402 Hungarian Jews on 147 trains in just 56 days between May 15 and July 9, 1944, which was preceded by the passage of anti-Jewish laws beginning in 1920 and the deportation of more than 20,000 Jews in 1941; Whereas the United States and Hungary have a shared history dating to the times of 19th century Hungarian statesman Lajos Kossuth, whose bust graces the halls of the United States Congress, and Hungarians have immigrated to the United States since its founding, enriching the national fabric of the United States; Whereas, in the 1990 Charter of Paris for a New Europe, the United States and Hungary committed to build, consolidate and strengthen democracy as the only system of government of our nations ; Whereas Hungary joined the visa waiver program in 2008, enabling Hungarians to visit the United States without a visa, further strengthening ties between the two countries; Whereas Hungarians voted in a national referendum in 1997 to join NATO, and the United States supported Hungary’s accession to NATO, building the common alliance between the two countries; Whereas the North Atlantic Treaty states that all members of NATO are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law ; Whereas NATO member states have collectively identified corruption and poor governance, including within member states, as security challenges which undermine democracy, the rule of law and economic development , demonstrating a shared understanding of the link between democratic values and international security