[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 650 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 650

 Recognizing May 28 as ``World Hunger Day'', that the 90th anniversary 
 of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933, known as the Holodomor, should 
serve as a reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the people of 
  Ukraine, and that Vladimir Putin's illegal war against Ukraine has 
 diminished Ukraine's agricultural output and threatens to exacerbate 
           the problems of global hunger on World Hunger Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 26, 2022

 Mr. Kaine (for himself, Mr. Portman, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Van Hollen) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing May 28 as ``World Hunger Day'', that the 90th anniversary 
 of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933, known as the Holodomor, should 
serve as a reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the people of 
  Ukraine, and that Vladimir Putin's illegal war against Ukraine has 
 diminished Ukraine's agricultural output and threatens to exacerbate 
           the problems of global hunger on World Hunger Day.

Whereas Ukraine is a major global exporter of agricultural products critical to 
        global food supplies, including wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower;
Whereas Ukrainian wheat output has decreased by 34 percent, and corn, barley, 
        and other grain output has decreased by more than 50 percent in the past 
        year as a result of Russia's war against Ukraine;
Whereas Russia's illegal occupation of the Crimean peninsula and Ukrainian Black 
        Sea ports of Mariupol and Kherson, its assault on Odessa, its use of 
        naval mines in the Black Sea and land mines in Ukraine's agricultural 
        areas, and the destruction of Ukrainian export terminals and 
        transportation infrastructure have severely constrained Ukraine's 
        ability to export grain;
Whereas the number of people around the world facing acute food insecurity 
        greatly increased from 135,000,000 in 2019, to 193,000,000 in 2021, 
        nearly 40,000,000 people experienced emergency levels of acute food 
        insecurity (just one step away from famine) in 2021, and the number of 
        people experiencing such food insecurity is projected to increase in 
        2022;
Whereas the effects of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine are expected to 
        increase global grain prices and disproportionately impact low- and 
        middle-income countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, 
        and sub-Saharan Africa who are dependent on imported Ukrainian wheat;
Whereas the totality of these actions by Russia represents an intentional and 
        concerted effort to attack the Ukrainian agricultural sector resembling 
        the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933, which was caused by the former Soviet 
        Union;
Whereas, Senate Resolution 435, which was passed by the Senate on October 3, 
        2018, commemorated the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor and recognized 
        the Soviet Union's role in perpetrating this genocide against the 
        Ukrainian people;
Whereas 2022-2023 marks the 90th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-
        1933, which is also known as the Holodomor;
Whereas, in 1932 and 1933, millions of Ukrainian people perished at the will of 
        the totalitarian Stalinist government of the former Soviet Union, which 
        perpetrated a premeditated famine in Ukraine in an effort to break the 
        nation's resistance to collectivization and communist occupation;
Whereas the Government of the Soviet Union deliberately confiscated grain 
        harvests and starved millions of Ukrainian men, women, and children by a 
        policy of forced collectivization that sought to destroy the nationally 
        conscious movement for independence;
Whereas Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin ordered the borders of Ukraine sealed to 
        prevent anyone from escaping the manmade starvation and to prevent the 
        delivery of any international food aid that would provide relief to the 
        starving;
Whereas numerous scholars worldwide have worked to uncover the scale of the 
        famine, including Canadian wheat expert Andrew Cairns who visited 
        Ukraine in 1932, and was told that there was no grain ``because the 
        government had collected so much grain and exported it to England and 
        Italy'', while Joseph Stalin simultaneously denied food aid to the 
        people of Ukraine;
Whereas nearly a quarter of Ukraine's rural population perished or were forced 
        into exile due to the induced starvation and the entire nation suffered 
        from the consequences of the prolonged famine;
Whereas noted correspondents of the time were refuted for their courage in 
        depicting and reporting on the forced famine in Ukraine, including 
        Gareth Jones, William Henry Chamberlin, and Malcolm Muggeridge, who 
        wrote ``[The peasants] will tell you that many have already died of 
        famine, and that many are dying every day; that thousands have been shot 
        by the Government and hundreds of thousands exiled . . .'';
Whereas title V of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary, 
        and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-180; 99 
        Stat. 1157), which was enacted on December 13, 1985, established the 
        Commission on the Ukraine Famine to ``conduct a study of the Ukrainian 
        Famine of 1932-1933 in order to expand the world's knowledge of the 
        famine and provide the American public with a better understanding of 
        the Soviet system by revealing the Soviet role'' in it;
Whereas, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, archival documents became 
        available that confirmed the deliberate and premeditated deadly nature 
        of the famine and that exposed the atrocities committed by the Soviet 
        government against the Ukrainian people;
Whereas Raphael Lemkin, who devoted his life to the development of legal 
        concepts and norms for containing mass atrocities and whose tireless 
        advocacy swayed the United Nations in 1948 to adopt the Convention on 
        the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, authored an 
        essay in 1953 entitled ``Soviet Genocide in the Ukraine'', which 
        highlighted the ``classic example of Soviet genocide'' characterizing it 
        ``not simply a case of mass murder. It is a case of genocide, of 
        destruction, not of individuals only, but of a culture and a nation'';
Whereas Ukraine's law Number 376-V, ``Law of Ukraine on the Starvation in 
        Ukraine of 1932-1933'', which was enacted on November 28, 2006, gave 
        official recognition to the Holodomor as an act of genocide against the 
        Ukrainian people;
Whereas, on October 13, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law Public 
        Law 109-340, which authorized the Government of Ukraine ``to establish a 
        memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia to honor the 
        victims of the Ukrainian famine-genocide of 1932-1933'', and the 
        Holodomor Memorial was officially dedicated in November 2015;
Whereas the Government of Ukraine and the Ukrainian communities in the United 
        States and worldwide continue their efforts to secure greater 
        international awareness and understanding of the 1932-1933 tragedy; and
Whereas victims of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 will be commemorated by Ukrainian 
        communities around the globe and in Ukraine through November 2022: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) condemns Vladimir Putin's illegal war in Ukraine, and 
        his weaponization of hunger, which has increased global food 
        prices and food insecurity in the world;
            (2) calls upon Vladimir Putin and the Russian Armed Forces 
        to immediately cease their blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea 
        ports to allow all Ukrainian food exports to resume;
            (3) calls attention to the impending global food crisis by 
        observing May 28, 2022, as ``World Hunger Day'';
            (4) solemnly remembers the 90th anniversary of the 
        Holodomor of 1932-1933, and extends its deepest sympathies to 
        the victims, survivors, and families of this tragedy;
            (5) condemns the systematic violations of human rights, 
        including the freedom of self-determination and freedom of 
        speech of the Ukrainian people by the Government of the Soviet 
        Union;
            (6) recognizes the findings of the Commission on the 
        Ukraine Famine, as submitted to Congress on April 22, 1988, 
        including that ``Joseph Stalin and those around him committed 
        genocide against the Ukrainians in 1932-1933'';
            (7) encourages dissemination of information regarding the 
        Holodomor of 1932-1933 in order to expand the world's knowledge 
        of this manmade tragedy; and
            (8) supports the continuing efforts of the people of 
        Ukraine to defend themselves against Russian aggression, to 
        work toward ensuring democratic principles, a free economy, and 
        full respect for human rights in order to enable Ukraine to 
        achieve its full potential in accord with the desires of the 
        Ukrainian people and to deepen the partnership between Ukraine, 
        the United States, and all democratic nations.
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