IV

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 131

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 12, 2000

Referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the workers’ strikes

in Poland that led to the creation of the independent

trade union Solidarnos ́c

 ́

, and for other purposes.

Whereas, in July and August of 1980, Polish workers went

on strike to protest communist oppression and demand

greater political freedom;

Whereas, in the shipyards of Gdansk and Szczecin, workers’

committees coordinated these strikes and ensured that

the strikes were peaceful and orderly and did not promote acts of violence;

Whereas workers’ protests against the communist authorities

in Poland were supported by the Polish people and the

international community of democracies;

Whereas, on August 30 and 31 of 1980, the communist government of the People’s Republic of Poland yielded to the

21 demands of the striking workers, including the release

of all political prisoners, including Jacek Kuron and
2

SCON 131 RFH

Adam Michnik, the broadcasting of religious services on

television and radio, and the right to establish independent trade unions;

Whereas from these agreements emerged Solidarnos ́c

 ́

, the

first independent trade union in the communist bloc, led

by Lech Walesa, an electrician from Gdansk;

Whereas Solidarnos ́c

 ́ and its 10,000,000 members became a

great social movement in Poland that was committed to

promoting fundamental human rights, democracy, and

Polish independence;

Whereas, during its first congress in 1981, Solidarnos ́c

 ́ issued

a proclamation urging workers in Soviet-bloc countries to

resist their communist governments and to struggle for

freedom and democracy;

Whereas the communist government of Poland introduced

martial law in December 1981 in an attempt to block the

growing political and social influence of the Solidarnos ́c

 ́

movement;

Whereas Solidarnos ́c

 ́ remained a powerful and political force

that resisted the efforts of Poland’s communist government to suppress the desire of the Polish people for freedom, democracy, and independence from the Soviet

Union;

Whereas, in February 1989, the communist government of

Poland agreed to conduct roundtable talks with

Solidarnos ́c

 ́ that led to elections to the National Assembly

in June of that year, in which nearly all open seats were

won by candidates supported by Solidarnos ́c

 ́

;

Whereas, on August 19, 1989, Solidarity leader Tadeusz

Mazowiecki was asked to serve as Prime Minister of Poland and on September 12, 1989, the Polish Sejm voted
3

SCON 131 RFH

to approve Prime Minister Mazowiecki and his cabinet,

Poland’s first noncommunist government in 4 decades;

Whereas, on December 9, 1990, Lech Walesa was elected

President of Poland;

Whereas the Solidarnos ́c

 ́ movement, by its courage and example, initiated political transformations in other countries

in Central and Eastern Europe and thereby initiated the

collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989; and

Whereas, since the time Poland freed itself from communist

domination, Polish-American relations have transformed

from partnership to alliance, a transition marked by Poland’s historic accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in March 1999: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring), That Congress—

3 (1) commemorates the 20th anniversary of the work4 ers’ strikes in Poland that led to the creation of the independent trade union Solidarnos ́

c

 ́ 5 ; and

6 (2) honors the leaders of Poland who risked and lost

7 their lives in attempting to restore democracy in their

8 country and to return Poland to the democratic commu9 nity of nations.

Passed the Senate October 11 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.