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







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1314

 Remembering the 75th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 
    1932-1933 and extending the deepest sympathies of the House of 
    Representatives to the victims, survivors, and families of this 
                    tragedy, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2008

   Mr. Levin (for himself, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. 
Gerlach, Mr. Berman, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Costa, Mr. Lincoln 
   Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mr. Engel, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Langevin, Mr. 
  McCotter, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McNulty, Mrs. Miller of Michigan, Mr. 
    Rothman, Ms. Schwartz, and Mr. Walz of Minnesota) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Remembering the 75th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 
    1932-1933 and extending the deepest sympathies of the House of 
    Representatives to the victims, survivors, and families of this 
                    tragedy, and for other purposes.

Whereas in 1932 and 1933, nearly 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 Canadian wheat expert Andrew Cairns 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-
        genocide 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-Genocide of 1932-
        1933 (Holodomor), 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-Genocide was engineered by Joseph 
        Stalin and the Soviet Government deliberately against the Ukrainian 
        nation;
Whereas with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, archival documents confirmed 
        the deliberate and pre-meditated deadly nature of the famine, and the 
        Soviet Government was exposed for its atrocities against the Ukrainian 
        people; and
Whereas on October 13, 2006, the President of the United States signed into law 
        Public Law 109-340, authorizing the construction of a memorial in the 
        District of Columbia to honor the victims of the Ukrainian Famine-
        Genocide, in recognition of the upcoming 75th anniversary of the 
        genocide in 2008: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) solemnly remembers the 75th anniversary of the 
        Ukrainian Famine-Genocide 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-Genocide 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.
                                 <all>