[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 472 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 472

  Expressing the sense of the Senate 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 brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine 
   once again threatens the existence of the Ukrainian people, while 
              exacerbating the problems of global hunger.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 27, 2023

    Mr. Kaine (for himself and Mr. Wicker) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the Senate 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 brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine 
   once again threatens the existence of the Ukrainian people, while 
              exacerbating the problems of global hunger.

Whereas Russia's illegal, premeditated, unprovoked, and brutal war against 
        Ukraine--

    (1) violates international law;

    (2) undermines the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity; 
and

    (3) includes extensive, systematic, and flagrant atrocities against the 
people of Ukraine;

Whereas Vladimir Putin's repeated public rejections of a separate Ukrainian 
        identity have made the war an existential fight for the Ukrainian 
        Government and people;
Whereas Moscow's continuing war against Ukraine has weaponized food through 
        intentional and concerted attacks on the Ukrainian agricultural sector 
        and energy grid, resulting in elevated global grain prices that 
        disproportionately impact low- and middle-income countries in the Middle 
        East, North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, which are 
        dependent on imported Ukrainian wheat;
Whereas Moscow's weaponization of hunger has further exacerbated an 
        unprecedented global food crisis, with more than 345,000,000 people 
        around the world facing acute levels of food insecurity in 2023;
Whereas, on July 17, 2023, Russia unilaterally withdrew from the Black Sea Grain 
        Initiative, which since its inception in July 2022 resulted in the 
        export of more than 32,000,000 metric tons of Ukrainian grain, including 
        grain exports to developing countries vulnerable to food insecurity;
Whereas Putin's attitude towards, and actions in, Ukraine evoke comparisons with 
        the totalitarian government of the former Soviet Union, which was 
        responsible for the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933;
Whereas Ukraine is a major global exporter of agricultural products that are 
        critical to global food supplies, including wheat, corn, barley, and 
        sunflower;
Whereas Russia's illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory, including the 
        Crimean peninsula and the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Mariupol, its 
        assault on Kherson and Odessa, its use of naval mines in the Black Sea 
        and land mines in Ukraine's agricultural areas, sustained attacks 
        against Ukraine's energy grid, and the destruction of Ukrainian export 
        terminals and transportation infrastructure have severely constrained 
        Ukraine's ability to export grain;
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 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 25 percent 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 were commemorated by Ukrainian 
        communities around the globe and in Ukraine throughout November 2022: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) condemns Vladimir Putin's brutal and unprovoked war in 
        Ukraine and his repeated public rejections of the existence of 
        a Ukrainian people and a sovereign Ukrainian State;
            (2) condemns Vladimir Putin's weaponization of hunger, 
        which has increased global food prices and food insecurity in 
        the world;
            (3) calls upon Vladimir Putin and the Russian Armed 
        Forces--
                    (A) to immediately cease their attacks on Ukrainian 
                civilians;
                    (B) to withdraw all troops from Ukraine; and
                    (C) to fully respect Ukraine's sovereignty, 
                independence, and territorial integrity;
            (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 accordance 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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