III 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 479 

Expressing sympathy for the people of Poland in the aftermath of the devastating plane crash that killed the country’s President, First Lady, 

and 94 other high ranking government, military, and civic leaders on 

April 10, 2010. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 14, 2010 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. JOHANNS, Mr. KERRY, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. 

VOINOVICH, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. REID, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. KYL, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. BAYH, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BENNETT, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. BOND, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts, Mr. 

BROWNBACK, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. BURR, Mr. BURRIS, Mr. BYRD, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. COBURN, Mr. 

COCHRAN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CONRAD, Mr. CORKER, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. 

CRAPO, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. DODD, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. ENZI, 

Mr. FEINGOLD, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. FRANKEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. 

GRAHAM, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. GREGG, Mrs. HAGAN, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. 

HATCH, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. 

JOHNSON, Mr. KAUFMAN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KOHL, Ms. LANDRIEU, 

Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. LEMIEUX, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. 

LIEBERMAN, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. MCCAIN, Mrs. MCCASKILL, 

Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. 

NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. REED, 

Mr. RISCH, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. SHELBY, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. 

SPECTER, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. TESTER, Mr. THUNE, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. VITTER, Mr. WARNER, Mr. 

WEBB, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. WYDEN) submitted the 

following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing sympathy for the people of Poland in the afterVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:56 Apr 15, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\SR479.ATS SR479

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•SRES 479 ATS 

math of the devastating plane crash that killed the country’s President, First Lady, and 94 other high ranking 

government, military, and civic leaders on April 10, 

2010. 

Whereas the United States and Poland are close allies, with 

a shared bond of history, friendship, and international cooperation; 

Whereas Polish immigrants were among the first Jamestown 

settlers, and Casimir Pulaski immigrated to the United 

States to fight in the Revolutionary War; 

Whereas more than 9,000,000 Americans of Polish descent 

now reside in the United States, bringing vitality to 

major metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Detroit, and 

New York City; 

Whereas Polish-Americans have been leaders in all walks of 

American life; 

Whereas the American people stood in support of the Solidarity movement as it fought against the oppression of 

the communist government of Poland through peaceful 

means, eventually leading to Solidarity members being 

elected to office in open democratic elections held on 

June 4, 1989, events that helped spark the movement to 

democracy throughout eastern Europe; 

Whereas Poland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1999, joined the European Union in 

2004, and has contributed to United States and NATO 

operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; 

Whereas Poland has enjoyed a thriving and prosperous free 

market democracy since the end of the Cold War; 


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•SRES 479 ATS 

Whereas the President of Poland Lech Kaczynski and 95 

other people, including Poland’s First Lady, the deputy 

foreign minister, dozens of members of Parliament, the 

chiefs of the army and navy, and the president of the national bank, were tragically killed in a plane crash in 

western Russia on April 10, 2010; 

Whereas President Kaczynski and his colleagues were traveling to Katyn, Russia for a memorial service to mark 

the 70th anniversary of the Soviet secret police killing of 

more than 20,000 Polish officers, prisoners, and intellectuals who were captured after the Soviet Union invaded 

Poland in 1939; 

Whereas Anna Walentynowicz, the former dock worker whose 

firing in 1980 sparked the Solidarity strike that ultimately overthrew the communist government of Poland, 

was also killed in the crash; 

Whereas Ryszard Kaczorowski, who served as Poland’s final 

president in exile before the country’s return to democracy, also perished in the crash; 

Whereas Chicago suffered the loss of a respected artist when 

Wojciech Seweryn, whose father was killed in Katyn, died 

in the crash; 

Whereas Mr. Seweryn recently completed a memorial to the 

victims of Katyn at St. Adalbert Cemetery in Niles, Illinois, which President Kaczynski planned to visit in May; 

Whereas President Barack Obama said, the ‘‘loss is devastating to Poland, to the United States, and to the 

world. President Kaczynski was a distinguished statesman who played a key role in the Solidarity movement, 

and he was widely admired in the United States as a 


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•SRES 479 ATS 

leader dedicated to advancing freedom and human dignity.’’; 

Whereas Former Solidarity leader and ex-president Lech 

Walesa said, ‘‘Today, we lost part of our intellectual elite 

in a plane crash. It will take a long time until the wounds 

of our democracy are healed.’’; and 

Whereas thousands of Poles gathered in the center of Warsaw and elsewhere around the world on Saturday to 

mourn those killed in the crash and affirm their continued solidarity with the people of Poland: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) expresses its deepest sympathies to the peo3 ple of Poland and the families of those who perished 

4 for their profound loss; 

5 (2) expresses strong and continued solidarity 

6 with the people of Poland and Polish-American com7 munities in the United States; and 

8 (3) expresses unwavering support for the Gov9 ernment of Poland as it works to address the loss 

10 of many key public officials. 

Æ 


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