[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1243 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1243

  Expressing sympathy for the people of the Republic of Poland in the 
  aftermath of the devastating plane crash that killed the country's 
President, First Lady, and 94 other high ranking government, military, 
                  and civic leaders on April 10, 2010.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 13, 2010

 Mr. Quigley submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing sympathy for the people of the Republic of Poland in the 
  aftermath of the devastating plane crash that killed the country's 
President, First Lady, and 94 other high ranking government, military, 
                  and civic leaders on April 10, 2010.

Whereas the United States and the Republic of Poland are close allies, with a 
        shared bond of history, friendship, and international cooperation;
Whereas Polish immigrants were among the first Jamestown settlers and Casimir 
        Pulaski immigrated to the United States to fight in the Revolutionary 
        War;
Whereas more than 9,000,000 Americans of Polish descent now reside in the United 
        States, bringing vitality to major metropolitan areas such as Chicago, 
        Detroit, and New York City;
Whereas Polish-Americans have been leaders in all walks of life in the United 
        States;
Whereas the people of the United States stood in support of the Solidarity 
        movement as it fought against the oppression of the Communist government 
        of Poland through peaceful means, eventually leading to Solidarity 
        members being elected to office in open democratic elections held on 
        June 4, 1989, events that helped spark the movement to democracy 
        throughout Eastern Europe;
Whereas Poland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1999, 
        joined the European Union in 2004, and has contributed to United States 
        and NATO operations in Iraq and Afghanistan;
Whereas Poland has enjoyed a thriving and prosperous free market democracy since 
        the end of the Cold War;
Whereas the President of Poland Lech Kaczynski and 95 other people, including 
        Maria Kaczynski, First Lady of Poland, Aleksander Szczyglo, National 
        Security Chief Slawomir Skrzypek, Governor of the National Bank of 
        Poland, Jerzy Szmajdinski, Deputy Speaker of the Lower House, and 
        Franciszek Gagor, Chief of the General Staff, were tragically killed in 
        a plane crash in western Russia on April 10, 2010;
Whereas President Kaczynski and his colleagues were traveling to Katyn, Russia, 
        for a memorial service to mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet secret 
        police killing of more than 20,000 Polish officers, prisoners, and 
        intellectuals who were captured after the Soviet Union invaded Poland in 
        1939;
Whereas Anna Walentynowicz, the former dock worker whose firing in 1980 sparked 
        the Solidarity strike that ultimately overthrew the Communist government 
        of Poland, was also killed in the crash;
Whereas Ryszard Kaczorowski, who served as Poland's final president in exile 
        before the country's return to democracy, also perished in the crash;
Whereas Chicago suffered the loss of a respected artist when Wojciech Seweryn, 
        whose father was killed in Katyn, died in the crash as well;
Whereas Mr. Seweryn recently completed a memorial to the victims of Katyn at St. 
        Adalbert Cemetery in Niles, Illinois, which President Kaczynski planned 
        to visit in May;
Whereas President Barack Obama said, the ``loss is devastating to Poland, to the 
        United States, and to the world. President Kaczynski was a distinguished 
        statesman who played a key role in the Solidarity movement, and he was 
        widely admired in the United States as a leader dedicated to advancing 
        freedom and human dignity.'';
Whereas Former Solidarity leader and ex-president Lech Walesa said, ``Today, we 
        lost part of our intellectual elite in a plane crash. It will take a 
        long time until the wounds of our democracy are healed.''; and
Whereas thousands of Poles gathered in the center of Warsaw and elsewhere around 
        the world on Saturday to mourn those killed in the crash and affirm 
        their continued solidarity with the people of Poland: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses its deepest sympathies to the people of the 
        Republic of Poland and the families of those who perished for 
        their profound loss;
            (2) expresses strong and continued solidarity with the 
        people of Poland and Polish-American communities in the United 
        States; and
            (3) expresses unwavering support for the Government of 
        Poland as it works to address the loss of many key public 
        officials.
                                 <all>