[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 479 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 479

 Expressing sympathy for the people 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 14, 2010

  Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Johanns, Mr. Kerry, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. 
Voinovich, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Reid, Mr. McConnell, Mr. 
Kyl, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Bayh, Mr. 
 Begich, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Bond, Mrs. Boxer, 
 Mr. Brown of Massachusetts, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Bunning, Mr. Burr, Mr. 
 Burris, Mr. Byrd, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mr. Casey, Mr. Chambliss, 
   Mr. Coburn, Mr. Cochran, Ms. Collins, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Corker, Mr. 
 Cornyn, Mr. Crapo, Mr. DeMint, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Ensign, Mr. 
 Enzi, Mr. Feingold, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Franken, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. 
  Graham, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Gregg, Mrs. Hagan, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Hatch, 
 Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Johnson, Mr. 
  Kaufman, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Kohl, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. 
Leahy, Mr. LeMieux, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lieberman, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Lugar, 
 Mr. McCain, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Murkowski, 
Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Pryor, 
  Mr. Reed, Mr. Risch, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Sanders, Mr. 
    Schumer, Mr. Sessions, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Shelby, Ms. Snowe, Mr. 
 Specter, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Tester, Mr. Thune, Mr. Udall of Colorado, 
    Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Warner, Mr. Webb, Mr. 
    Whitehouse, Mr. Wicker, and Mr. Wyden) submitted the following 
             resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing sympathy for the people 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 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 American life;
Whereas the American people 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 
        Poland's First Lady, the deputy foreign minister, dozens of members of 
        Parliament, the chiefs of the army and navy, and the president of the 
        national bank, 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;
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 Senate--
            (1) expresses its deepest sympathies to the people 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>