[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 71 (Monday, May 11, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5331-S5332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 139--COMMEMORATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF 
                        COMMUNIST RULE IN POLAND

  Ms. MIKULSKI (for herself, Mr. Burris, Mr. Specter, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
Voinovich, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Levin, and Mr. 
Cardin) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 139

       Whereas in January 1947, the communist Democratic Bloc 
     party seized control of the Polish Parliament in a rigged 
     election orchestrated by the Government of the Soviet Union;
       Whereas from 1947 to 1952, the communist Government of 
     Poland prosecuted, imprisoned, and executed many individuals 
     who fought as part of the wartime Underground Resistance, an 
     organization that valiantly supported the Allied struggle 
     against Nazi Germany as part of the largest resistance 
     movement in occupied Europe;
       Whereas in July 1952, the passage of a new constitution 
     formally created the communist People's Republic of Poland 
     and outlawed any non-communist candidate from

[[Page S5332]]

     seeking office to represent the people of Poland;
       Whereas during the ensuing years of communist rule, the 
     people of Poland suffered severe hardships because of the 
     communist-led government's failure to provide for the basic 
     economic needs of its people;
       Whereas under communist rule, Polish intellectuals, 
     religious leaders, labor officials, students, and reformers 
     were imprisoned and exiled for speaking out against a 
     succession of increasingly corrupt, inefficient, and 
     repressive pro-Soviet puppets;
       Whereas despite the harsh repression of the communist-led 
     government and the great personal risk they faced, the Polish 
     people struggled for freedom by staging strikes, publishing 
     underground newspapers, organizing street protests, and 
     speaking out against the economic and political failures of 
     the communist regime;
       Whereas in August 1980, in the wake of a shipyard workers' 
     strike in Gdansk, the Solidarity Movement was created as the 
     first free trade union in the Soviet Bloc nations;
       Whereas ultimately 1 in 4 Polish citizens became members of 
     the Solidarity movement, which served as the driving force 
     for Poland's liberation from communist rule;
       Whereas on June 4, 1989, the Solidarity Party secured an 
     overwhelming victory over the existing communist government 
     in the first open election in Poland since the end of World 
     War II, marking the fall of pro-Soviet rule in Poland; and
       Whereas this victory inspired a succession of similarly 
     peaceful transitions from communism to democracy in other 
     former Soviet Bloc nations: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) celebrates the 20th anniversary of the end of communist 
     rule in Poland;
       (2) expresses its admiration for the people of Poland for 
     their bravery and resolve in the face of economic hardship 
     and political oppression under communist rule;
       (3) congratulates the people of Poland for their 
     accomplishments in the years since the end of pro-Soviet 
     communist rule in building a free democracy, and for their 
     contributions as international partners;
       (4) expresses its appreciation for the close friendship 
     between the Government of the United States and the 
     Government of Poland; and
       (5) urges the Government of the United States to continue 
     to seek new ways to enhance its partnership with the 
     Government of Poland.

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