[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 67 (Thursday, May 19, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5546-S5547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 35--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 resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                            S. Con. Res. 35

       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 and occupation;
       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 denounced the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 
     and its secret protocols;
       Whereas President Putin recently confirmed that the 
     statement of the Congress of Peoples' Deputies remains the 
     view of the Russian Federation;
       Whereas the illegal occupation and annexation of the Baltic 
     countries by the Soviet Union remains unacknowledged by the 
     Russian Federation;
       Whereas a declaration of acknowledgment of the illegal 
     occupation and annexation 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 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

[[Page S5547]]

     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.

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