[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1246 Engrossed in House (EH)]

H. Res. 1246

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                        April 14, 2010.
Whereas the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other people, including 
        Poland's First Lady, deputy foreign minister, deputy defense minister, 
        dozens of members of Parliament, the chiefs of the army and navy, and 
        the president of the national bank, were 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 Ryszard Kaczorowski, who served as Poland's final president in exile 
        before the country's return to democracy, perished;
Whereas Anna Walentynowicz, the former dock worker whose firing in 1980 sparked 
        the Solidarity strike that ultimately overthrew the Polish communist 
        government, was also killed in the crash;
Whereas respected Chicago artist Wojciech Seweryn, whose father was killed in 
        Katyn, and who recently completed a memorial to the victims of Katyn at 
        St. Adalbert Cemetery in Niles, Illinois, which Polish President 
        Kaczynski planned to visit in May, died in the crash as well;
Whereas Russia and Poland had begun to heal the deep wounds from the Katyn 
        tragedy, with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently joining 
        Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a ceremony marking the event at 
        Katyn;
Whereas Prime Minister Putin, the first Russian leader ever to attend the Katyn 
        commemoration said ``we bow our heads to those who bravely met death 
        here'';
Whereas more than 9,000,000 Americans of Polish descent now reside in the United 
        States, including in major metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Detroit, 
        and New York City;
Whereas the American people stood in support of the Solidarity movement as it 
        fought against the oppression of the Polish communist government through 
        peaceful means, eventually leading to Solidarity members being elected 
        to office in partially free democratic elections held on June 4, 1989;
Whereas Poland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1999 and 
        has since contributed to military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; 
        and
Whereas the United States and Poland share a strong bond of friendship and 
        international cooperation: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) mourns the death of President Kaczynski and the terrible loss of 
        life that resulted from the plane crash of April 10, 2010;
            (2) expresses its deepest sympathies to the people of Poland and the 
        families of those who perished for their profound loss;
            (3) expresses strong and continued solidarity with the people of 
        Poland and all persons of Polish descent; and
            (4) expresses unwavering support for the Polish government as it 
        works to overcome the loss of many key public officials.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.