[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 152 (Tuesday, November 6, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H7785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMMEMORATION OF THE 68TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UKRAINIAN FAMINE-GENOCIDE 
                              OF 1932-1933

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Hart). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from California (Mr. Horn) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. HORN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of millions 
of innocent Ukrainians who were systematically starved to death by the 
Soviet Government in 1932 and 1933.
  A comprehensive campaign to kill Ukrainian citizens and to destroy 
all vestiges of Ukrainian nationalism was carried out by Joseph Stalin, 
the dictator of the Soviet Union; and his policies of forced 
collectivization of both agriculture and industry was part of the 
problem. Although almost a quarter of the Ukrainian population died in 
those 2 years, 1932 and 1933, their tragedy remained unknown to the 
rest of the world for almost 60 years.
  Joseph Stalin's collectivization policy to finance Soviet 
industrialization had a disastrous effect on agricultural productivity. 
In fact, between the First World War and the Second World War 
productivity in agriculture doubled, but not with the industrialization 
and the collectivization. The Northern Caucasus and the Lower Volga 
River area were part of that famine that occurred.
  Without regard for the negative consequences of this policy, Stalin 
raised Ukraine's grain quotas by 44 percent. Because Soviet law 
required that the government's grain quota be filled before no other 
food distribution, peasants were effectively starved to death. Stalin 
enforced this law absolutely mercilessly. Those who refused to give up 
their grain were executed or deported. The death toll from the famine 
is estimated to be 6 to 7 million people. That is quite a bit when 
Stalin, the dictator, had killed about 25 million in his own country.
  Yet, despite this atrocity, Ukrainians still struggled to restore 
their independence and freedom. There is no doubt that when Ukraine 
declared its independence on August 24, 1991, it vindicated the deaths 
of so many Ukrainians during the famine.
  Madam Speaker, during the difficult time in our own country, it is 
important to recognize the courage of other peoples and other 
generations in the long struggle for freedom. It is equally important 
that we build on this example by teaching compassion to our young 
people and reinforcing our resolve to prevail over evil.
  We must never forget that many innocent lives have been taken to 
undermine our commitment to the ideals of freedom and democracy. With 
this commemoration, we honor the memory of Ukrainians whose lives were 
lost in the struggle to gain independence; and we renew our commitment 
to justice for all.
  In this week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko will be 
here, and I hope many Members in the House would have an opportunity to 
meet the new Prime Minister and its former pro-market reform. We hope 
that never again on Russia at all or Ukraine should such brutal murders 
and such wrong groups take place.

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