[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 147 (Monday, October 20, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H9692-H9694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING MAN-MADE FAMINE THAT OCCURRED IN
UKRAINE IN 1932-1933
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 356) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives regarding the man-made famine that occurred in Ukraine
in 1932-1933.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 356
Whereas 2003 marks the 70th anniversary of the height of
the famine in Ukraine that was deliberately initiated and
enforced by the Soviet regime through the seizure of grain
and the blockade of food shipments into the affected areas,
as well as by forcibly preventing the starving population
from leaving the region, for the purposes of eliminating
resistance to the forced collectivization of agriculture and
destroying Ukraine's national identity;
Whereas this man-made famine resulted in the deaths of at
least 5,000,000 men, women, and children in Ukraine and an
estimated 1-2 million people in other regions;
Whereas the famine took place in the most productive
agricultural area of the former Soviet Union while foodstocks
throughout the country remained sufficient to prevent the
famine and while the Soviet regime continued to export large
quantities of grain;
Whereas many Western observers with first-hand knowledge of
the famine, including The New York Times correspondent Walter
Duranty, who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for his
reporting from the Soviet Union, knowingly and deliberately
falsified their reports to cover up and refute evidence of
the famine in order to suppress criticism of the Soviet
regime;
Whereas Western observers and scholars who reported
accurately on the existence of the famine were subjected to
disparagement and criticism in the West for their reporting
of the famine;
Whereas the Soviet regime and many scholars in the West
continued to deny the existence of the famine until the
collapse of the Soviet regime in 1991 resulted in many of its
archives being made accessible, thereby making possible the
documentation of the premeditated nature of the famine and
its harsh enforcement;
Whereas the final report of the United States Government's
Commission on the Ukraine Famine, established on December 13,
1985, concluded that the victims were ``starved to death in a
man-made famine'' and that ``Joseph Stalin and those around
him committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-1933''; and
Whereas, although the Ukraine famine was one of the
greatest losses of human life in the 20th century, it remains
insufficiently known in the United States and in the world:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of
Representatives that--
(1) the millions of victims of the man-made famine that
occurred in Ukraine in 1932-1933 should be solemnly
remembered and honored in the 70th year marking the height of
the famine;
(2) this man-made famine was designed and implemented by
the Soviet regime as a deliberate act of terror and mass
murder against the Ukrainian people;
(3) the decision of the Government of Ukraine and the
Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) to give official
recognition to the famine and its victims, as well as their
efforts to secure greater international awareness and
understanding of the famine, should be supported; and
(4) the official recognition of the famine by the
Government of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada represents a
significant step in the reestablishment of Ukraine's national
identity, the elimination of the legacy of the Soviet
dictatorship, and the advancement of efforts to establish a
democratic and free Ukraine that is fully integrated into the
Western community of nations.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde).
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. HYDE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, this resolution recognizes and remembers the
victims of one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, namely,
the more than 5 million men, women and children in Ukraine who were
deliberately starved to death by the Soviet regime in the terrible
decade of the 1930s. That regime perpetrated many horrors in its seven
decades of existence, but surely this must rank among its most
damnable.
It is important to stress that this famine was not a natural
phenomenon, but was instead deliberately engineered. Virtually all
sustenance in the targeted area was seized, even as the availability of
food elsewhere in the Soviet Union remained sufficient to prevent the
famine. The export of grain never ceased even at the height of the
death tolls.
Nor was this the result of mere indifference to life, but an uncaring
regime. Soviet troops and secret police forces were deployed to
forcibly prevent the starving population from leaving the area in the
desperate search for food. A sentence of mass death had been pronounced
and was mercilessly enforced.
The purpose of the artificial famine was to break resistance to the
regime's policy of forced collectivization of agriculture, but this was
coupled with a murderous determination to destroy Ukraine's national
identity, which the regime considered as a mortal threat to its empire
and, therefore, brutally suppressed.
There is a legacy of shame that the West must bear. Many prominent
Westerners, including journalists and scholars who had firsthand
knowledge of the famine, deliberately falsified their reporting to
cover up and refute evidence of the tragedy in order to suppress
criticism of the Soviet regime. We know their actions were deliberate
because they confessed their knowledge at the time to confidantes and
to their diaries. The most notorious of these was Walter Duranty, a
correspondent for The New York Times who had won a Pulitzer Prize for
his reporting from the Soviet Union. But he was far from alone.
Those few who accurately reported on the famine were subject to
considerable abuse from their colleagues and others in the West, and
their reports were generally disregarded. That lamentable record
continued until after the fall of the Soviet regime in 1991, with
Robert Conquest's book, The Harvest of Sorrow, being a lonely
exception.
In remembering and honoring the victims, I must stress that in
addition to millions of ethnic Ukrainians, the dead included large
numbers from many other ethnic groups, including Russians, Jews, and a
host of others large and small.
It is also important to note that other areas of the Soviet Union
were also subjected to this man-made famine, especially those
neighboring regions where an estimated 1\1/2\ million people of many
ethnic origins were starved to death.
This tragedy knew no artificial divisions, no insulating borders, no
refuge. All who perished were equal in their innocence, but the blow
fell heaviest in Ukraine.
I would like to take this opportunity to praise the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Levin) for his resolution on the famine in Ukraine, H.
Res. 254. His has long been one of the most important and influential
voices in Congress for ensuring that Ukraine and its people remain
prominent in our thoughts, and we owe him our gratitude for his many
labors.
Ukraine's reermergence in 1991 from the Soviet prison house was of
momentous significance, not merely for Ukraine, but for the entire
world, because its independence signaled the death of that empire.
But I regret to say that Ukraine's great and continuing importance to
the United States and to the West remains largely unmeasured here. For
an independent Ukraine is an indispensable element in ensuring the
freedom and security of Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals.
Our interests and those of the West as a whole require that Ukraine
complete its transformation into a true democracy; that it establish a
vibrant economy equal to its national and natural wealth and the
talents of its people; and that it assume its rightful place in the
Western community of nations. Although we can provide assistance
towards these ends, the first two must remain largely the
responsibility of the Ukrainian people.
But Urkaine's accession to the institutions of the West can only
occur with our active support and encouragement. It is my hope we will
have the wisdom to understand our own interests and
[[Page H9693]]
will act to secure these with permanence.
Our long-delayed recognition of Ukraine's suffering is also a
recognition of its emergence from darkness and the reestablishment of
its independence and is one more step in extending to it our embrace.
Let us remember that as we now honor the victims of a terrible past
that it is hopefully gone forever.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I might consume,
and I rise in strong support of this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, at the outset I would like to express publicly my
delight at the decision of the distinguished chairman of the Committee
on International Relations to continue his service in this Congress and
for our Nation. This is the best news of the weekend, and I know that
all of my colleagues on this side of the aisle join me in saying how
proud and pleased we are that the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman
Hyde) will continue his wit and wisdom and extraordinary statesmanship
to the work of this body.
{time} 1415
Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the gentleman from Illinois (Mr.
Hyde) for introducing this very timely resolution, which marks the 70th
anniversary of the atrocity that Joseph Stalin committed against the
people of Ukraine. We must never forget that Joseph Stalin killed more
citizens of the Soviet Union through his inhumane and murderous
policies than any invader of the Soviet Union, or Russia before.
I also want to commend my good friend and colleague, the gentleman
from Michigan (Mr. Levin), for introducing a similar resolution; and he
will speak to this issue in just a moment.
While the official estimates of the number of Ukrainians killed by
Stalin's vicious policies during the 2 years of the Ukrainian famine is
about 5 million, the more considered unofficial estimates suggest that
about 7 million Ukrainians could have been killed because of a
deliberately induced policy of starvation on the people of Ukraine.
This act of terror and mass murder was designed to squash the national
aspiration of the Ukrainian people. Grain shipments were seized, the
borders of Ukraine blockaded, and all the while the Soviet regime
continued to export large quantities of grain and suppress the news of
Ukraine's suffering.
The Soviet Government successfully hid this famine from the West, and
only since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 have we been able
to obtain access to documents confirming the deliberate and
premeditated murder of vast numbers of the innocent men, women, and
children of Ukrainian heritage by Stalin's Soviet dictatorship.
It is a joy, Mr. Speaker, to see Ukraine take its proper place among
the free and independent nations, no longer a part of the Soviet Union
but a proud and independent nation, which, after the enormous
difficulties of the Soviet period, is building a new future for the
Ukrainian people; and so I urge all of my colleagues to support H. Res.
356.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Michigan (Mr. Levin), my friend and colleague.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, first, I want to join in the words of the
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) regarding our colleague from
Illinois. His eloquence and his civility mean a great deal to us, both
when we agree with him and when we do not. The gentleman from Illinois
(Mr. Hyde) has, I think, set a standard for everyone to follow in
discussion of issues on the floor of the United States House and helps
us be proud that we are Members of this institution.
I also want to join with the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) in
his comments, as well as the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos),
regarding this issue, and also with what the gentleman from Illinois
had to say about the present and future of Ukraine. As we look back, it
is important also that we look forward, and the challenge before
Ukraine today is an important one, both their steps forward and
sometimes backward. We all join in hoping that the steps forward will
increase as Ukraine joins fully the ranks of the democratic nations of
this globe. They have an important role to play.
But we also have to look back because if we do not look back, we will
not effectively face the future. So I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to join
my colleagues in commemorating the 70th anniversary of the tragedy of
the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33. This resolution recalls the incredible
suffering and loss sustained by the Ukrainian people, and others, as
the gentleman from Illinois pointed out, as a result of intentional
policies implemented by the former Soviet Union which led to the deaths
of at least 7 million people. Even today, the magnitude and gravity of
this atrocity remains unknown to too many in the world. And this is why
every 5 years, at least, we introduce a resolution to mark the
anniversary.
As mentioned, more than 7 million women, men, and children died; and
it was not because of drought or pestilence or crop failure. It was
because of the deliberate policies of Joseph Stalin and other leaders
in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Government ruthlessly employed policies
of forced collectivization and grain seizures to suppress and
politically neutralize Ukrainian aspirations for independence. Red Army
soldiers performed systematic house-to-house searches where every scrap
of food was taken. Grain silos were guarded by military troops, and
police denied access to even those who had harvested the grain in the
immediate area, while trains loaded with food left that area.
The seizures were so harsh that villages were often left with no food
for their citizens, making the crisis even worse. Soviet authorities
ordered the borders of Ukraine sealed to prevent anyone from escaping
the famine and preventing any international food aid from providing
relief to the starving. Witnesses spoke of Ukrainians eating bark,
weeds, and even insects to survive.
Observing the commemoration of this anniversary is significant
because Stalin and his closest associates concealed the artificially
created famine for decades. In the aftermath of the collapse of the
Soviet Union, the world has learned more and more about the harsh
reality of life under a totalitarian regime, and the truth surrounding
this atrocity has been revealed.
We gained greater knowledge after the congressionally mandated U.S.
Commission on the Ukraine Famine began its work in 1985 to ``provide
the American public with a better understanding of the Soviet system by
revealing the Soviet role in the famine.''
I had a chance recently to go back and read a summary of that report,
and I urge my colleagues to do likewise. That commission issued its
final report in 1988, noting 19 findings, including that, and I quote,
``Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against
Ukrainians in 1932-33.''
We also gained knowledge through the recollections of survivors. Dr.
Walter Lyzohub of Redford Township, Michigan, wrote me a letter
explaining that he survived the famine, but that the famine took the
lives of his sister Vera as well as his brother Ivan. His sister and
brother were aged 10 and 9 respectively. It was heartbreaking,
heartbreaking, to read that letter. Dr. Lyzohub and all the victims of
this famine, this atrocity, must never be forgotten or ignored. Only
through remembrance of the victims and recognition of that famine can
such acts of senseless cruelty and violence against humankind be
prevented from happening again.
I also would like to recognize Michael Sawkiw of the Ukrainian
Congress Committee of America, who has been in the forefront of helping
to bring this issue and all important issues regarding Ukraine to the
attention of Members of Congress. So, Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 356
provides us once again with an opportunity for remembrance and for
recognition; and I urge all my colleagues to join the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), and me
in supporting this resolution.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
General Leave
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
[[Page H9694]]
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to
include extraneous material on H. Res. 356, the resolution under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Boozman). Is there objection to the
request of the gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and
I would like to thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin) and the
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) for their extraordinarily
generous remarks, and I wish to say the sentiment that animated those
is indeed reciprocated.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be an original
cosponsor of H. Res. 356. I thank and commend Mr. Hyde for introducing
this resolution commemorating and honoring the memory of victims of an
abominable act perpetrated against the people of Ukraine in 1932-33.
Seventy years ago, millions of men, women and children were murdered by
starvation so that one man, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, could
consolidate control over Ukraine. The Ukrainian people resisted the
Soviet policy of forced collectivization. The innocent died a horrific
death at the hands of a tyrannical dictatorship which had crushed their
freedom.
In an attempt to break the spirit of an independent-minded Ukrainian
peasantry, and ultimately to secure collectivization, Stalin ordered
the expropriation of all foodstuffs in the hands of the rural
population. The grain was shipped to other areas of the Soviet Union or
sold on the international market. Peasants who refused to turn over
grain to the state were deported or executed. Without food or grain,
mass starvation ensued. This manmade famine was the consequence of
deliberate policies which aimed to destroy the political, cultural and
human rights of the Ukrainian people.
In short, food was used as a weapon in what can only be described as
an organized act of terrorism designed to suppress a people's love of
their land and the basic liberty to live as they choose.
Mr. Speaker, I recall back in the 1980s seeing the unforgettable
movie, Harvest of Despair, which depicted the horrors of the Famine, as
well as the fine work of the congressionally-created Ukraine Famine
Commission, which issued its seminal report in 1988. Their work helped
expose the truth about this horrific event. I am pleased that the
resolution notes that there were those in the West, including The New
York Times correspondent Walter Duranty, who knowingly and deliberately
falsified their reports to cover up the Famine because they wanted to
curry favor with one of the most evil regimes in the history of
mankind.
The fact that this denial of the Famine took place then, and even
much later by many scholars in the West is a shameful chapter in our
own history.
Mr. Speaker, this is an important resolution which will help give
recognition to one of the most horrific events in the last century in
the hopes that mass-murders of this kind truly become unthinkable.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) that the House suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 356.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
____________________