Whereas, 3 decades ago, the peoples of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania inspired the world through their victory over the forces of Soviet totalitarianism after decades of resistance; Whereas the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania originally declared their independence in 1918 and established diplomatic relations with the United States as independent countries on July 28, 1922; Whereas, 100 years ago this year, Soviet Russia signed treaties with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania recognizing their sovereignty and renouncing all territorial claims over each Baltic State in perpetuity; Whereas, on August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which contained a secret protocol dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, with the Baltic States ultimately being assigned to the Soviet Union, leading soon after to the forcible incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union; Whereas, following World War II, the Soviet Union occupied the Baltic States, imposing for more than 5 decades its model of Soviet totalitarianism, which the United States never recognized, instead maintaining 98 years of continuous diplomatic relations with the Baltic States; Whereas, in August 1989, approximately 2,000,000 people joined hands in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to form a 373-mile human chain across the 3 states known as the Baltic Chain of Freedom; Whereas, in February 1990, the people of Lithuania participated in the first free election to select a new parliament, which promptly voted for restoration of independence, making Lithuania the first occupied Soviet republic to declare the restoration of independence on March 11, 1990, a move subsequently followed by Latvia on May 4, 1990, and Estonia on August 20, 1991; Whereas, in January 1991, Soviet military forces tried to quash the growing independence restoration movement, leading to approximately 14 Lithuanian deaths, as well as 6 Latvian deaths and many injuries