26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ("26th Congress of the CPSU", ) opened on February 23, 1981, with a five-hour address by the General Secretary of the Communist Party and the chairman (president) of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet Leonid Brezhnev. This was the last Congress for Brezhnev, who died in 1982. Brezhnev proposed another round of arms control talks. At a time when an aging Soviet leadership faced a decline in economic growth, severe food problems at home, grave uncertainties about its future relationship with the United States, and unsettling events in Poland, the congress ended its week of speeches by unanimously confirming the existing leadership. The congress elected the 26th Central Committee.