[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 50 (Monday, April 12, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S2212]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 476--HONORING THE LIVES OF PRESIDENT OF POLAND LECH 
KACZYNSKI, HIS WIFE, AND 94 OTHERS WHO PERISHED ON APRIL 10, 2010, IN A 
   PLANE CRASH WHILE EN ROUTE TO MEMORIALIZE THOSE POLISH OFFICERS, 
  OFFICIALS, AND CIVILIANS WHO WERE MASSACRED BY THE SOVIET UNION 70 
                               YEARS AGO

  Mr. LUGAR submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 476

       Whereas, on April 10, 2010, the President of the Republic 
     of Poland Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and a cadre of 
     current and former Polish statesmen, family members, and 
     others departed Warsaw by plane to the Russian region of 
     Smolensk;
       Whereas the purpose of the delegation's visit was to hold a 
     ceremony in solemn remembrance of the more than 22,000 Polish 
     military officers, police officers, judges, other government 
     officials, and civilians who were executed by the Soviet 
     secret police, the NKVD, 70 years ago, between April 3 and 
     the end of May 1940;
       Whereas more than 14,500 Polish victims have been 
     documented at 3 sites in Katyn (in present day Belarus), in 
     Miednoye (in present day Russia), and in Kharkiv (in present 
     day Ukraine), while the remains of an estimated 7,000 Polish 
     victims have yet to be precisely located;
       Whereas the Soviet Union failed to acknowledge 
     responsibility for the massacres until President Mikhail 
     Gorbachev's statement on April 13, 1990;
       Whereas, on April 7, 2010, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir 
     Putin became the first Russian or Soviet leader to join 
     Polish officials in commemorating the anniversary of the 
     murders;
       Whereas the plane carrying the Polish delegation on April 
     10, 2010, crashed in Smolensk, tragically killing all 96 
     persons on board, including President Kaczynski, his wife, 
     and other current and former Polish statesmen;
       Whereas President Kaczynski was a steadfast proponent of 
     consolidating freedom and prosperity in Poland and advancing 
     them throughout Central and Eastern Europe and was a close 
     friend of the United States of America; and
       Whereas the deep friendship between the Governments and 
     people of Poland and the United States is grounded in our 
     mutual respect, shared values, and common priorities on 
     nuclear nonproliferation, counterterrorism, human rights, 
     regional cooperation in Eastern Europe, democratization, and 
     international development: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the terrible tragedy that took place on 
     April 10, 2010, when an aircraft carrying a delegation of 
     current and former Polish officials, family members, and 
     others crashed en route from Warsaw to Smolensk to 
     memorialize the 1940 massacres, killing all 96 passengers;
       (2) honors the life and legacy of the late President of 
     Poland Lech Kaczynski and the lives and legacies of all Poles 
     who perished in the plane crash on April 10, 2010;
       (3) honors the lives and legacies of the more than 22,000 
     Polish government officials, military officers, and civilians 
     who were executed by the NKVD 70 years ago, between April and 
     May 1940;
       (4) expresses deep sympathy for the surviving family 
     members of those who perished at the hands of the NKVD in 
     1940 and for the surviving family members of those who 
     perished in the tragic plane crash of April 10, 2010;
       (5) supports the people of Poland as they restore 
     leadership in the institutions of the Government of Poland 
     that were impacted by the crash of April 10, 2010; and
       (6) requests that the Secretary of the Senate transmit an 
     enrolled copy of this resolution to the Ambassador of Poland 
     to the United States.

  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I rise to honor the lives of President Lech 
Kaczynski, his wife, and 94 others who perished in a plane crash on 
April 10, 2010. President Kaczynski was a steadfast supporter of 
advancing freedom and prosperity in Poland and throughout Central and 
Eastern Europe and was a close friend of the United States. It is with 
tragic irony that this devastation has occurred at a time of solemn 
remembrance of the massacre of Polish officers and civilians in the 
Katyn Forest and elsewhere 70 years ago. Together with the Polish 
nation and friends of Poland worldwide, I mourn this unbelievably 
tragic loss. With these sentiments in mind, I am introducing this 
resolution honoring the lives of President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, 
his wife, and 94 others who perished on April 10, 2010 in a plane crash 
while en route to memorialize those Polish officers, officials, and 
civilians who were massacred by the Soviet Union 70 years ago.

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