Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933, known as the Holodomor, is recognized as a genocide and should serve as a reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the people of Ukraine.

Whereas, in 1932 and 1933, millions of Ukrainians perished from a famine engineered by the former Soviet Union, designed to break the Ukrainian’s resistance to communist occupation and to provide a cover for a campaign of repression and persecution carried out by the Soviet Union against the citizens and culture of Ukraine; Whereas the Soviet Union forced the people of Ukraine to relinquish their land, personal property, and housing to collective farms and then confiscated grain harvests, starving the men, women, and children of Ukraine; Whereas the Soviet Union sealed the borders of Ukraine to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid and to prevent Ukrainians from escaping; Whereas the entire nation of Ukraine suffered from the prolonged famine, resulting in the death of nearly a quarter of the rural population of Ukraine; Whereas title V of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1986 ( Public Law 99–180 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 Whereas the Commission on the Ukraine Famine, Investigation of the Ukrainian Famine 1932–1933: Report to Congress, adopted by the Commission, April 19, 1988, and submitted to Congress April 22, 1988, found that in 1932 and 1933, the Government of the Soviet Union had committed genocide against the Ukrainian people; Whereas with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, archival documents confirmed the premeditated nature of the famine and exposed the atrocities suffered by the Ukrainian people; Whereas Ukraine’s law N 376–V titled About the 1932–1933 Holodomor in Ukraine Whereas President George W. Bush signed into law Public Law 109–340 to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia to honor the victims of the Ukrainian famine-genocide of 1932–1933 Whereas the Government of Ukraine and the Ukrainian communities in the United States and worldwide continue their efforts to secure awareness and understanding of the 1932–1933 tragedy; and Whereas victims of the Holodomor genocide of 1932–1933 continue to be remembered: Now, therefore, be it That the House of Representatives— (1) recognizes the Ukrainian famine of 1932–1933, known as the Holodomor, as a genocide; (2) solemnly remembers the atrocities of the Holodomor of 1932–1933, and extends its deepest sympathies to the victims, survivors, and families of this tragedy; (3) condemns the systematic violations of human rights, including the starvation, repression, and persecution of the Ukrainian people by the Soviet Union; (4) recognizes the findings of the Commission on the Ukraine Famine as submitted to Congress on April 22, 1988; (5) encourages dissemination of information regarding the Holodomor of 1932–1933 in order to increase an understanding of the Soviet engineered genocide denied by the Kremlin for more than half a century; and (6) is resolute that Ukraine remain independent and sovereign to protect the people from future genocide.

Summary: This resolution expresses that the House of Representatives recognizes the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933, known as the Holodomor, as a genocide; remembers the atrocities of the Holodomor and extends deepest sympathies to the victims, survivors, and families of this tragedy; condemns the systematic violations of human rights, including the starvation, repression, and persecution of the Ukrainian people by the Soviet Union; recognizes the findings of the Commission on the Ukraine Famine as submitted to Congress on April 22, 1988; and is resolute that Ukraine remain independent and sovereign to protect the people from future genocide.