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[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 300 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 300

  Expressing support for the designation of August 23, 2019, as Black 
    Ribbon Day to recognize the victims of Soviet and Nazi regimes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 9, 2019

   Mr. Shimkus (for himself and Mr. Schiff) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
  Expressing support for the designation of August 23, 2019, as Black 
    Ribbon Day to recognize the victims of Soviet and Nazi regimes.

Whereas, on August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany pledged mutual 
        nonaggression through the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which divided Eastern 
        Europe into two spheres of interest in their illicit bilateral 
        negotiations;
Whereas this notorious agreement and the Friendship and the Border Treaty on 
        September 28, 1939, allowed both the Soviets and the Nazis to divide and 
        occupy Poland in September 1939 and to occupy the three Baltic States of 
        Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia in June 1940;
Whereas the United States refused to recognize the Soviet Union's forcible 
        occupation of the Baltic States, and consistently recognized the 
        independence of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia through the Welles 
        Declaration on July 23, 1940;
Whereas, on August 13, 1941, the United States Government signed the Atlantic 
        Charter to make certain common principles in the national policies of 
        their respective countries for a better future of the world, including 
        ``the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which 
        they will live and self government restored to those who have been 
        forcibly deprived of them'' and that the people of countries may live in 
        freedom;
Whereas the United States Government has actively advocated for and continues to 
        support the principles by the United Nations Universal Declaration of 
        Human Rights and the United Nations General Assembly resolution 260 
        (III) of December 9, 1948;
Whereas Captive Nations Week, signed into law (Public Law 86-90) by President 
        Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959, raised public awareness of the oppression 
        of nations under the control of Communist and other nondemocratic 
        governments;
Whereas the European Parliament resolution on European conscience and 
        totalitarianism of April 2, 2009, established a day of remembrance for 
        victims of Soviet and Nazi regimes to remember and commemorate their 
        victims;
Whereas the extreme forms of totalitarian rule practiced by the Nazi and Soviet 
        dictatorships led to premeditated and vast crimes committed against 
        millions of human beings and their basic and inalienable rights on a 
        scale unseen before in history;
Whereas hundreds of thousands of human beings, fleeing the crimes perpetrated by 
        the Nazi and Soviet regimes sought and found refuge in the United 
        States;
Whereas millions of Americans of Baltic and Eastern and Central European descent 
        who personally fled or whose families fled those regimes have made 
        unique and significant cultural, economic, social, and other 
        contributions to help build the United States;
Whereas the members of Baltic Way, a peaceful political demonstration uniting 
        two million people in their quest for independence of the Baltic States 
        on August 23, 1989, joined hands and formed a human chain from Tallinn 
        through Riga to Vilnius, launching a new chapter in the history of the 
        Baltic States and leaving behind the bitter legacy of the Molotov-
        Ribbentrop Pact;
Whereas August 23 would be an appropriate date to designate as Black Ribbon Day 
        to remember and never forget the terror millions of citizens of the 
        Baltic countries, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe countries 
        experienced for over half a century by ruthless military, economic, and 
        political repression, including arbitrary executions, mass arrests, 
        deportations, the suppression of free speech, confiscation of private 
        property, and the destruction of cultural and moral identity and civil 
        society, all of which deprived individuals of their basic human rights 
        and dignity; and
Whereas the memories of Europe's tragic past cannot be forgotten and it is right 
        to honor the victims, condemn the perpetrators, and lay the foundation 
        for reconciliation based on truth and remembrance: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports the 
designation of Black Ribbon Day to recognize and honor the victims of 
Soviet and Nazi regimes.
                                 <all>
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