[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 213 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 213

   Honoring the memory of Poland's President, national leaders, and 
cultural leaders who were killed in the tragic plane crash at Smolensk, 
                       Russia on April 10, 2010.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 7, 2011

Ms. Kaptur (for herself, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, and Mr. 
 Tonko) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Honoring the memory of Poland's President, national leaders, and 
cultural leaders who were killed in the tragic plane crash at Smolensk, 
                       Russia on April 10, 2010.

Whereas Poland's 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, other 
        chiefs of the Polish armed forces, and the president of the national 
        bank, were killed when the President's airliner, a Tupelov TU-154M, 
        crashed near Smolensk, Russia on April 10, 2010;
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 this tragedy occurred as the Polish delegation was on its final approach 
        to land in order to attend an historic ceremony to publically 
        commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre of 1940;
Whereas, in 1940, the Soviet secret police, the People's Commissariat for 
        Internal Affairs (NKVD), was directed by Joseph Stalin to systematically 
        murder approximately 22,000 Polish military officers, prisoners, and 
        intellectuals;
Whereas, on September 18, 1951, the House of Representatives established the 
        Select Committee to Conduct an Investigation and Study of the Facts, 
        Evidence, and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre;
Whereas, on December 22, 1952, the Select Committee unanimously concluded in its 
        final report that the Soviet NKVD committed the mass murders of the 
        Polish officers and intellectual leaders in the Katyn Forest, stating, 
        ``there has not been a scintilla of proof or even any remote 
        circumstantial evidence presented that could indict any other nation in 
        this international crime'';
Whereas the Soviet Union did not admit responsibility for this atrocity until 
        President Mikhail Gorbachev's statement on April 13, 1990;
Whereas the attendance of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was to be the first time 
        ever that a Russian leader attended the Katyn commemoration;
Whereas more than 9,000,000 Americans of Polish descent now reside in the United 
        States and 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; and
Whereas the United States and Poland are close allies, with a shared bond of 
        history, friendship, and international cooperation: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) honors the memory of Poland's President, national 
        leaders, and cultural leaders who were killed in the tragic 
        plane crash at Smolensk, Russia on April 10, 2010;
            (2) expresses its deepest sympathies to the people of 
        Poland and the families of those who perished in the April 10, 
        2010, plane crash;
            (3) expresses strong and continued solidarity with the 
        people of Poland and all persons of Polish descent; and
            (4) expresses unwavering support for the Government of 
        Poland as it works to overcome the loss of many key public 
        officials and as it continues to seek information regarding the 
        plane crash on April 10, 2010.
                                 <all>