III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 435 

Expressing the sense of the Senate 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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2018 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BROWN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. 

WICKER, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MURPHY, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate 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. 

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 


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•SRES 435 IS 

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 nation 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 . . .’’; 


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•SRES 435 IS 

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 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 Ukraine’s law N 376–V ‘‘About the 1932–1933 

Holodomor in Ukraine’’ of November 28, 2006, gave official recognition to the Holodomor 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 


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•SRES 435 IS 

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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) solemnly remembers the 85th anniversary of 

3 the Holodomor of 1932–1933 and extends its deep4 est sympathies to the victims, survivors, and families 

5 of this tragedy; 

6 (2) condemns the systematic violations of 

7 human rights, including the freedom of self-deter8 mination and freedom of speech, of the Ukrainian 

9 people by the Soviet government; 

10 (3) recognizes the findings of the Commission 

11 on the Ukraine Famine as submitted to Congress on 

12 April 22, 1988, including that ‘‘Joseph Stalin and 

13 those around him committed genocide against the 

14 Ukrainians in 1932–1933’’; 

15 (4) encourages dissemination of information re16 garding the Holodomor of 1932–1933 in order to exVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Mar 15, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR435.IS SR435

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1 pand the world’s knowledge of this manmade trag2 edy; and 

3 (5) supports the continuing efforts of the people 

4 of Ukraine to work toward ensuring democratic 

5 principles, a free-market economy, and full respect 

6 for human rights, in order to enable Ukraine to 

7 achieve its potential as an important strategic part8 ner of the United States in that region of the world, 

9 and to reflect the will of its people. 

Æ 


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