IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 608 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the 85th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932–1933 (Holodomor) 

should serve as a reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the 

people of Ukraine. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 7, 2017 

Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. HARRIS) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the 85th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide 

of 1932–1933 (Holodomor) should serve as a reminder 

of repressive Soviet policies against the people of 

Ukraine. 

Whereas 2017 marks the 85th anniversary of the Ukrainian 

Famine-Genocide of 1932–1933; 

Whereas, in 1932 and 1933, an estimated 7 to 10 million 

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; 


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•HRES 608 IH 

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 preventing 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 simultaneously denying food aid to 

the people of Ukraine; 

Whereas nearly a quarter of Ukraine’s rural population perished or was forced into exile due to the forcibly induced 

starvation, and the entire nation suffered from the consequences of the prolonged famine; 

Whereas the Soviet Government manipulated and censored 

foreign journalists, including New York Times correspondent, Walter Duranty, whose reports from Ukraine 

knowingly denied not only the scope and magnitude, but 

also the existence, of the man-made famine; 

Whereas noted correspondents of the time were refuted for 

their courage in depicting and reporting of 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 


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thousands have been shot by the government and hundreds of thousands exiled . . .’’; 

Whereas, in May 1934, former United States Congressman 

Hamilton Fish (NY) introduced a resolution in the 

House of Representatives (H. Res. 399, 73d Congress, 

2d Session), which called for the condemnation of the 

Government of the former Soviet Union for its acts of destruction of the Ukrainian people; 

Whereas Public Law 99–180, signed into law on December 

13, 1985, established the Commission on the Ukraine 

Famine to conduct a study to expand the world’s knowledge of the famine and provide the American public with 

a better understanding of the former Soviet system by revealing the Soviet role in the Ukraine famine; 

Whereas the final report of the United States Government’s 

Commission on the Ukraine Famine, concluded that the 

victims were ‘‘starved to death in a man-made famine’’ 

and that ‘‘Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932–1933’’; 

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 the Parliament of Ukraine passed on November 28, 

2006, law No.: N 376–V ‘‘About the 1932–1933 

Holodomor in Ukraine’’ that gave official recognition to 

the Famine as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian 

people; 

Whereas the Congress passed and the President of the 

United States signed Public Law 109–340 on October 


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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 faminegenocide 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 1932–1933 Famine-Genocide 

(Holodomor) will be commemorated by Ukrainian communities around the globe, and in Ukraine through November 2018: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) solemnly remembers the 85th anniversary of 

3 the Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor) of 1932–1933 

4 and extends its deepest sympathies to the victims, 

5 survivors, and families 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) encourages dissemination of information re11 garding the Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor) in order 

12 to expand the world’s knowledge of this man-made 

13 tragedy; and 

14 (4) supports the continuing efforts of the people 

15 of Ukraine to work toward ensuring democratic 


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

2 for human rights, in order to enable Ukraine to 

3 achieve its potential as an important strategic part4 ner of the United States in that region of the world, 

5 and to reflect the will of its people. 

Æ 


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