durbin: madam president, it was last february that i went to byelarus. i had been invited to go to lithuania to speak to the parliament on the 20th anniversary of their independence from the soviet union and took a separate trim into minsk, byelarus in a neighboring nation because there was a political crisis. it was february, and since the presidential election in the december before, there had been a wholesale effort by lukashenko, the leader of byelarus, to imprison his political opponents. with so many significant events going on in the middle east, there is an understandable risk that if we lose sight of things happening in countries like byelarus. in byelarus, under alexander lukashenko, if you have the temerity to run for president or protest a fraudulent election, you'll find yourself thrown in a k.g.b. jail where you're likely going to face torture and harsh prison sentences. if this sounds like a throwback to the cold war in the soviet union, that is exactly what it is. madam president, i ask the senate be brought to order. not only is byelarus