[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 62 (Thursday, May 12, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5172-S5173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 32--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
   THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION SHOULD ISSUE A CLEAR AND 
  UNAMBIGUOUS STATEMENT OF ADMISSION AND CONDEMNATION OF THE ILLEGAL 
OCCUPATION AND ANNEXATION BY THE SOVIET UNION FROM 1940 TO 1991 OF THE 
           BALTIC COUNTRIES OF ESTONIA, LATVIA, AND LITHUANIA

  Mr. SMITH (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Durbin) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 32

       Whereas the incorporation in 1940 of the Baltic countries 
     of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the Soviet Union was 
     an act of aggression carried out against the will of 
     sovereign people;
       Whereas the United States was steadfast in its policy of 
     not recognizing the illegal Soviet annexation of Estonia, 
     Latvia, and Lithuania;
       Whereas the Russian Federation is the successor state to 
     the Soviet Union;
       Whereas the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, including its 
     secret protocols, between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union 
     provided the Soviet Union with the opportunity to occupy and 
     annex Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania;
       Whereas the occupation brought countless suffering to the 
     Baltic peoples through terror, killings, and deportations to 
     Siberian concentration camps;
       Whereas the peoples of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania 
     bravely resisted Soviet aggression first through armed 
     resistance movements and later through political resistance 
     movements;
       Whereas the Government of Germany renounced its 
     participation in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 and 
     publicly apologized for the destruction and terror that Nazi 
     Germany unleashed on the world;
       Whereas, in 1989, the Congress of Peoples' Deputies of the 
     Soviet Union declared the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 
     void;
       Whereas the illegal occupation and annexation of the Baltic 
     countries is one of the largest remaining unacknowledged 
     incidents of oppression in Russian history;
       Whereas a declaration of acknowledgment of such incident by 
     the Russian Federation would lead to improved relations 
     between the people of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and the 
     people of Russia, would form the basis for improved relations 
     between the governments of the countries, and strengthen 
     stability in the region;
       Whereas the Russian Federation is to be commended for 
     beginning to acknowledge grievous and regrettable incidents 
     in their history, such as admitting complicity in the 
     massacre of Polish soldiers in the Katyn Forest in 1940;
       Whereas the truth is a powerful weapon for healing, 
     forgiving, and reconciliation, but its absence breeds 
     distrust, fear, and hostility; and
       Whereas countries that cannot clearly admit their 
     historical mistakes and make

[[Page S5173]]

     peace with their pasts cannot successfully build their 
     futures: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that the 
     Government of the Russian Federation should issue a clear and 
     unambiguous statement of admission and condemnation of the 
     illegal occupation and annexation by the Soviet Union from 
     1940 to 1991 of the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and 
     Lithuania, the consequence of which will be a significant 
     increase in good will among the affected peoples and enhanced 
     regional stability.

                          ____________________