III 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 139 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 11, 2009 Ms. Mikulski (for herself, Mr. Burris, Mr. Specter, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Levin, Mr. Cardin, and Mr. Martinez) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations June 2, 2009 Committee discharged; considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the end of communist rule in Poland.

Whereas in January 1947, the communist Democratic Bloc party seized control of the Polish Parliament in a rigged election orchestrated by the Government of the Soviet Union; Whereas, from 1947 to 1952, the communist Government of Poland prosecuted, imprisoned, and executed many individuals who fought as part of the wartime Underground Resistance, an organization that valiantly supported the Allied struggle against Nazi Germany as part of the largest resistance movement in occupied Europe; Whereas in July 1952, the passage of a new constitution formally created the communist People's Republic of Poland and outlawed any non-communist candidate from seeking office to represent the people of Poland; Whereas during the ensuing years of communist rule, the people of Poland suffered severe hardships because of the communist-led government’s failure to provide for the basic economic needs of its people; Whereas under communist rule, Polish intellectuals, religious leaders, labor officials, students, and reformers were imprisoned and exiled for speaking out against a succession of increasingly corrupt, inefficient, and repressive pro-Soviet puppets; Whereas despite the harsh repression of the communist-led government and the great personal risk they faced, the Polish people struggled for freedom by staging strikes, publishing underground newspapers, organizing street protests, and speaking out against the economic and political failures of the communist regime; Whereas in August 1980, in the wake of a shipyard workers' strike in Gdansk, the Solidarity Movement was created as the first free trade union in the Soviet Bloc nations; Whereas ultimately 1 in 4 Polish citizens became members of the Solidarity movement, which served as the driving force for Poland's liberation from communist rule; Whereas, on June 4, 1989, the Solidarity Party secured an overwhelming victory over the existing communist government in the first open election in Poland since the end of World War II, marking the fall of pro-Soviet rule in Poland; and Whereas this victory inspired a succession of similarly peaceful transitions from communism to democracy in other former Soviet Bloc nations: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1)celebrates the 20th anniversary of the end of communist rule in Poland; (2)expresses its admiration for the people of Poland for their bravery and resolve in the face of economic hardship and political oppression under communist rule; (3)congratulates the people of Poland for their accomplishments in the years since the end of pro-Soviet communist rule in building a free democracy, and for their contributions as international partners; (4)expresses its appreciation for the close friendship between the Government of the United States and the Government of Poland; and (5)urges the Government of the United States to continue to seek new ways to enhance its partnership with the Government of Poland.