[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 195 (Tuesday, December 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H10079-H10080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT THE 85TH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE UKRAINIAN FAMINE OF 1932-1933, KNOWN AS THE
HOLODOMOR, SHOULD SERVE AS A REMINDER OF REPRESSIVE SOVIET POLICIES
AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
the Committee on Foreign Affairs be discharged from further
consideration of H. Res. 931, and ask for its immediate consideration
in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
The text of the resolution is as follows
H. Res. 931
Whereas 2017-2018 marks the 85th anniversary of the
Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933, known as the Holodomor;
Whereas in 1932 and 1933, millions of Ukrainian people
perished at the will of the totalitarian Stalinist government
of the former Soviet Union, which perpetrated a premeditated
famine in Ukraine in an effort to break the nation's
resistance to collectivization and communist occupation;
Whereas the Soviet Government deliberately confiscated
grain harvests and starved millions of Ukrainian men, women,
and children by a policy of forced collectivization that
sought to destroy the nationally conscious movement for
independence;
Whereas Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin ordered the borders
of Ukraine sealed to prevent anyone from escaping the manmade
starvation and to prevent the delivery of any international
food aid that would provide relief to the starving;
Whereas numerous scholars worldwide have worked to uncover
the scale of the famine, including Canadian wheat expert
Andrew Cairns, who visited Ukraine in 1932 and was told that
there was no grain ``because the government had collected so
much grain and exported it to England and Italy'', while
Joseph Stalin simultaneously denied food aid to the people of
Ukraine;
Whereas nearly a quarter of Ukraine's rural population
perished or were forced into exile due to the induced
starvation, and the entire country suffered from the
consequences of the prolonged famine;
Whereas noted correspondents of the time were refuted for
their courage in depicting and reporting on the forced famine
in Ukraine, including Gareth Jones, William Henry Chamberlin,
and Malcolm Muggeridge, who wrote, ``They (the peasants) will
tell you that many have already died of famine and that many
are dying every day; that thousands have been shot by the
government and hundreds of thousands exiled . . .'';
Whereas title V of the Departments of Commerce, Justice,
and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 1986 (Public Law 99-180; 99 Stat. 1157), signed into law
on December 13, 1985, established the Commission on the
Ukraine Famine to ``conduct a study of the Ukrainian Famine
of 1932-1933 in order to expand the world's knowledge of the
famine and provide the American public with a better
understanding of the Soviet system by revealing the Soviet
role'' in it;
Whereas with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, archival
documents became available
[[Page H10080]]
that confirmed the deliberate and premeditated deadly nature
of the famine, and that exposed the atrocities committed by
the Soviet Government against the Ukrainian people;
Whereas Raphael Lemkin, who devoted his life to the
development of legal concepts and norms for containing mass
atrocities and whose tireless advocacy swayed the United
Nations in 1948 to adopt the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, authored an essay in
1953 entitled ``Soviet Genocide in [the] Ukraine'', which
highlighted the ``classic example of Soviet genocide'',
characterizing it ``not simply a case of mass murder[, but
as] a case of genocide, of destruction, not of individuals
only, but of a culture and a nation'';
Whereas the Government of Ukraine passed on November 28,
2006, a law numbered No: N 376-V, and entitled ``About the
1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine'', giving official recognition
to the Ukraine Famine as an act of genocide against the
Ukrainian people;
Whereas President George W. Bush signed into law Public Law
109-340 on October 13, 2006, authorizing the Government of
Ukraine ``to establish a memorial on Federal land in the
District of Columbia to honor the victims of the Ukrainian
famine-genocide of 1932-1933'', which was officially
dedicated in November 2015;
Whereas the Government of Ukraine and the Ukrainian
communities in the United States and worldwide continue their
efforts to secure greater international awareness and
understanding of the 1932-1933 tragedy; and
Whereas victims of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 will be
commemorated by Ukrainian communities around the globe, and
in Ukraine, through November 2018: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) solemnly remembers the 85th anniversary of the
Holodomor of 1932-1933 and extends its deepest sympathies to
the victims, survivors, and families of this tragedy;
(2) condemns the systematic violations of human rights,
including the freedom of self-determination and freedom of
speech, of the Ukrainian people by the Soviet Government;
(3) recognizes the findings of the Commission on the
Ukraine Famine as submitted to Congress on April 22, 1988,
including that ``Joseph Stalin and those around him committed
genocide against the Ukrainians in 1932-1933'';
(4) encourages dissemination of information regarding the
Holodomor of 1932-1933 in order to expand the world's
knowledge of this manmade tragedy; and
(5) supports the continuing efforts of the people of
Ukraine to work toward ensuring democratic principles, a
free-market economy, and full respect for human rights, in
order to enable Ukraine to achieve its potential as an
important strategic partner of the United States in that
region of the world, and to reflect the will of its people.
Amendment Offered by Mr. Royce of California
Mr. ROYCE of California. I have an amendment to this text at the
desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the amendment.
The Clerk read as follows
Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the
following:
That the House of Representatives--
(1) extends its deepest sympathies to the victims and
survivors of the Holodomor of 1932-1933, and their families;
(2) condemns the systematic violations of human rights,
including the freedom of self-determination and freedom of
speech, of the Ukrainian people by the Soviet Government;
(3) recognizes the findings of the Commission on the
Ukraine Famine as submitted to Congress on April 22, 1988,
including that ``Joseph Stalin and those around him committed
genocide against the Ukrainians in 1932-1933'';
(4) encourages dissemination of information regarding the
Holodomor of 1932-1933 in order to expand the world's
knowledge of this manmade tragedy; and
(5) supports the continuing efforts of the people of
Ukraine to work toward ensuring democratic principles, a
free-market economy, and full respect for human rights, in
order to enable Ukraine to achieve its potential as an
important strategic partner of the United States in that
region of the world, and to reflect the will of its people.
Mr. ROYCE of California (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask
unanimous consent to dispense with the reading.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
The amendment was agreed to.
The resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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