[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1314 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                    September 23, 2008.
Whereas in 1932 and 1933, an estimated seven to 10 million Ukrainian people 
        perished at the will of the totalitarian Stalinist government of the 
        former Soviet Union, which perpetrated a premeditated famine in Ukraine 
        in an effort to break the nation's resistance to collectivization and 
        communist occupation;
Whereas the Soviet Government deliberately confiscated grain harvests and 
        starved millions of Ukrainian men, women, and children by a policy of 
        forced collectivization that sought to destroy the nationally conscious 
        movement for independence;
Whereas Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin ordered the borders of Ukraine sealed to 
        prevent anyone from escaping the man-made starvation and preventing any 
        international food aid that would provide relief to the starving;
Whereas numerous scholars worldwide have worked to uncover the scale of the 
        famine, including Canadian wheat expert Andrew Cairns who visited 
        Ukraine in 1932 and was told that there was no grain ``because the 
        government had collected so much grain and exported it to England and 
        Italy,'' while simultaneously denying food aid to the people of Ukraine;
Whereas nearly a quarter of the rural population of Ukraine was eliminated due 
        to forced starvation, while the entire nation suffered from the 
        consequences of the prolonged lack of food;
Whereas the Soviet Government manipulated and censored foreign journalists, 
        including New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty, who knowingly 
        denied not only the scope and magnitude, but also the existence, of a 
        deadly man-made famine in his reports from Ukraine;
Whereas noted correspondents of the time were castigated by the Soviet Union for 
        their accuracy and courage in depicting and reporting the famine in 
        Ukraine, including Gareth Jones, William Henry Chamberlin, and Malcolm 
        Muggeridge, who wrote, ``[The farmers] will tell you that many have 
        already died of famine and that many are dying every day; that thousands 
        have been shot by the government and hundreds of thousands exiled'';
Whereas in May 1934, former Congressman Hamilton Fish introduced a resolution in 
        the House of Representatives (House Resolution 399 of the 73d Congress) 
        which called for the condemnation of the Soviet Government for its acts 
        of destruction against the Ukrainian people;
Whereas the United States Commission on the Ukraine Famine, formed on December 
        13, 1985, conducted a study with the goal of expanding the world's 
        knowledge and understanding of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933, and 
        concluded that the victims were ``starved to death in a man-made 
        famine'' and that ``Joseph Stalin and those around him committed 
        genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-1933'';
Whereas on May 15, 2003, in a special session, the Ukrainian Parliament 
        acknowledged that the Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor) was engineered by 
        Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Government deliberately against the 
        Ukrainian nation and called upon international recognition of the 
        Holodomor;
Whereas with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, archival documents became 
        available that confirmed the deliberate and pre-meditated deadly nature 
        of the famine, and that exposed the atrocities committed by the Soviet 
        Government against the Ukrainian people; and
Whereas on October 13, 2006, the President of the United States signed into law 
        Public Law 109-340 that authorized the Government of Ukraine ``to 
        establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia to 
        honor the victims of the Ukrainian famine-genocide of 1932-1933,'' in 
        recognition of the upcoming 75th anniversary of the tragedy in 2008: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) solemnly remembers the 75th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine 
        (Holodomor) of 1932-1933 and extends its deepest sympathies to the 
        victims, survivors, and families of this tragedy;
            (2) condemns the systematic violations of human rights, including 
        the freedom of self-determination and freedom of speech, of the 
        Ukrainian people by the Soviet Government;
            (3) encourages dissemination of information regarding the Ukrainian 
        Famine (Holodomor) in order to expand the world's knowledge of this man-
        made tragedy; and
            (4) supports the continuing efforts of Ukraine to work toward 
        ensuring democratic principles, a free-market economy, and full respect 
        for human rights, in order to enable Ukraine to achieve its potential as 
        an important strategic partner of the United States in that region of 
        the world.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.