Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my support for the people of El Salvador as they head to the polls this weekend to elect a new president.

Over the past years, the people of El Salvador have shown great resilience as they transformed their economy. From the privatization of state enterprises, to trade and financial liberalization, to the adoption of the United States dollar as its official currency, El Salvador and its people have chosen freedom and prosperity over communism and repression.

Madam Speaker, the relationship between the people of El Salvador and of the United States has been a strong one. The Salvadorian government was a faithful ally in the war in Iraq where they once had as many as 6000 soldiers supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

We in the United States also have stood by our friends in El Salvador. For example, through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, El Salvador is currently receiving $461 million of investment in projects including education, public services, agricultural production, rural business development, and transportation infrastructure.

In addition, El Salvador receives nearly $4 billion a year in remittances—almost 20% of its annual gross domestic product—from several million Salvadorans living in the United States.

And, even more important for our national security interests is that El Salvador is host to the United States Navy's primary Forward Operating Location (FOL) in Central America which is used to monitor and intercept drug traffic.

Madam Speaker, these examples reveal why this approaching election is so fundamental, and why it will have a great impact on the future direction of El Salvador and the relationship with the United States.

The two primary presidential candidates are Rodgrigo Avila of the National Republican Alliance (ARENA) party and Mauricio Funes of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) party.

Madam Speaker, the FMLN is a party that was formed from communist guerrillas that fought against the El Salvador government in one of the last battles in the Cold War. Nearly 70,000 people were killed during the 12-year war in El Salvador and brutal atrocities were committed by the FMLN.

Today the FMLN and its communist candidates—with funding from Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez—have fought hard to manipulate the democratic process in El Salvador in order to take at the ballot box what they couldn’t by force.

The FMLN has actively worked to undermine United States policy in the region by, among other things, openly supporting terrorist organizations such as the FARC in Colombia. And the FMLN candidate for vice president, Sanchez Ceren, is a known militant and guerrilla commander who staunchly opposes the United States.

Should the FMLN win this Sunday, El Salvador likely would quickly become a satellite and proxy of Venezuela, Russia, and perhaps Iran. While we must always work and stand with our allies in the region, a government in El Salvador that is run by the FMLN and its cronies would clearly undermine the good relationship the current government in El Salvador has with the United States.

Our close relationship with El Salvador is based on mutual respect for freedom and the rule of law. This relationship has allowed our people and our governments to work together in the past several years towards common goals.

As we look to the future, we must weigh the potential ramifications of this election and its impact on our relations -- more importantly, the longstanding and open policies related to TPS and the flow of remittances.

Madam Speaker, the stakes are high this weekend for the people of El Salvador. As they go to the polls to select their next president and, more importantly, the future direction of their nation, I urge them to reject the FMLN and the failed ideas of the past.

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