[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5567-5568]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       KATYN MASSACRE REMEMBRANCE

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark the Katyn Annual 
Remembrance at the National Katyn Memorial in Baltimore, Maryland.
  This Sunday, April 6, Polish Americans and other liberty lovers will 
gather at the National Katyn Memorial after a remembrance Mass is said 
at the Holy Rosary Church in honor of the victims of the Katyn 
massacre.
  In 1940, the Soviet secret police were directed by dictator Joseph 
Stalin to systematically murder over 22,000 of Poland's most important 
leaders, including military officers, religious leaders, educators, and 
intellectuals, in and around the Katyn Forest in Russia.
  In 1951, a U.S. House of Representatives select committee was tasked 
with conducting an investigation into the Katyn genocide, and it 
concluded that the Soviets were responsible for this mass murder.
  In 2010, after decades of denial and despite protests from its 
Communist members, the Russian Parliament approved a statement that 
ultimately acknowledged Stalin's complete responsibility in 
perpetrating these heinous crimes.
  While we honor the memory of the Polish victims of Katyn at this time 
every year, it is especially important this year as Eastern Europe, 
Crimea, and Ukraine once again face the illegal aggression of their 
territorial sovereignty from Russia and its leader.
  Let the world of nations continue to work in conjunction with the 
Polish government and with victims' families to uncover the complete 
truth of what happened at the Katyn Forest and nearby killing fields. 
Our world holds a moral obligation to honor the victims and to reveal 
the whole truth to enlighten future generations.
  Madam Speaker, history must record fully these mass crimes against 
humanity, and it must heal the fissures of tyranny to prevent such 
grave atrocities into the future.

[[Page 5568]]



                          ____________________