[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 476 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 476

Honoring the lives of President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and 
  94 others who perished on April 10, 2010, in a plane crash while en 
 route to memorialize those Polish officers, officials, and civilians 
          who were massacred by the Soviet Union 70 years ago.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 12, 2010

Mr. Lugar submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Honoring the lives of President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and 
  94 others who perished on April 10, 2010, in a plane crash while en 
 route to memorialize those Polish officers, officials, and civilians 
          who were massacred by the Soviet Union 70 years ago.

Whereas, on April 10, 2010, the President of the Republic of Poland Lech 
        Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and a cadre of current and former Polish 
        statesmen, family members, and others departed Warsaw by plane to the 
        Russian region of Smolensk;
Whereas the purpose of the delegation's visit was to hold a ceremony in solemn 
        remembrance of the more than 22,000 Polish military officers, police 
        officers, judges, other government officials, and civilians who were 
        executed by the Soviet secret police, the NKVD, 70 years ago, between 
        April 3 and the end of May 1940;
Whereas more than 14,500 Polish victims have been documented at 3 sites in Katyn 
        (in present day Belarus), in Miednoye (in present day Russia), and in 
        Kharkiv (in present day Ukraine), while the remains of an estimated 
        7,000 Polish victims have yet to be precisely located;
Whereas the Soviet Union failed to acknowledge responsibility for the massacres 
        until President Mikhail Gorbachev's statement on April 13, 1990;
Whereas, on April 7, 2010, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin became the 
        first Russian or Soviet leader to join Polish officials in commemorating 
        the anniversary of the murders;
Whereas the plane carrying the Polish delegation on April 10, 2010, crashed in 
        Smolensk, tragically killing all 96 persons on board, including 
        President Kaczynski, his wife, and other current and former Polish 
        statesmen;
Whereas President Kaczynski was a steadfast proponent of consolidating freedom 
        and prosperity in Poland and advancing them throughout Central and 
        Eastern Europe and was a close friend of the United States of America; 
        and
Whereas the deep friendship between the Governments and people of Poland and the 
        United States is grounded in our mutual respect, shared values, and 
        common priorities on nuclear nonproliferation, counterterrorism, human 
        rights, regional cooperation in Eastern Europe, democratization, and 
        international development: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the terrible tragedy that took place on 
        April 10, 2010, when an aircraft carrying a delegation of 
        current and former Polish officials, family members, and others 
        crashed en route from Warsaw to Smolensk to memorialize the 
        1940 massacres, killing all 96 passengers;
            (2) honors the life and legacy of the late President of 
        Poland Lech Kaczynski and the lives and legacies of all Poles 
        who perished in the plane crash on April 10, 2010;
            (3) honors the lives and legacies of the more than 22,000 
        Polish government officials, military officers, and civilians 
        who were executed by the NKVD 70 years ago, between April and 
        May 1940;
            (4) expresses deep sympathy for the surviving family 
        members of those who perished at the hands of the NKVD in 1940 
        and for the surviving family members of those who perished in 
        the tragic plane crash of April 10, 2010;
            (5) supports the people of Poland as they restore 
        leadership in the institutions of the Government of Poland that 
        were impacted by the crash of April 10, 2010; and
            (6) requests that the Secretary of the Senate transmit an 
        enrolled copy of this resolution to the Ambassador of Poland to 
        the United States.
                                 <all>