IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1323 
Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2010 
Mr. MCCOTTER (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. SMITH 
of New Jersey, Mr. PASCRELL, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 
FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. DINGELL, Ms. KAPTUR, and Mr. WOLF) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre. 
Whereas following the August 24, 1939, signing of the Molo-
tov-Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the So-
viet Union, a secret agreement to divide Poland between 
the two countries, Germany and the Soviet Union in-
vaded the Republic of Poland; 
Whereas more than 200,000 members of the Polish military 
became prisoners of war at the hands of their Soviet ag-
gressors; 
Whereas, on March 5, 1940, the Soviet secret police, the Peo-
ple’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) was di-
rected by Joseph Stalin and other members of the Polit-
buro to carry out a systematic murder of approximately 
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•HRES 1323 IH 
22,000 Polish military officers, doctors, lawmakers, pro-
fessors, police officers, and other intelligentsia; 
Whereas between April and May 1940, Polish prisoners of 
war were transported from internment camps in the So-
viet Union to three execution sites in and around the 
Katyn Forest; 
Whereas, on April 11, 1943, radio stations in Nazi Germany 
announced the discovery of mass graves of over 4,000 
Polish officers in the Katyn Forest who were murdered 
by a bullet shot in the back of the head; 
Whereas upon learning of this massacre, the Polish govern-
ment in exile requested the International Red Cross be 
allowed to investigate this discovery; 
Whereas the Soviet Union refused to allow such an investiga-
tion and subsequently broke off diplomatic relations with 
the Polish government in exile; 
Whereas the Soviet Union repeatedly and deliberately used 
film footage and other propaganda methods to suppress 
the truth and accused the Nazis of the massacre; 
Whereas, on September 18, 1951, the House of Representa-
tives established the Select Committee to Conduct an In-
vestigation and Study of the Facts, Evidence, and Cir-
cumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre; 
Whereas, on July 2, 1952, the Committee recommended the 
Soviets be tried before the International World Court of 
Justice ‘‘for committing a crime at Katyn which was in 
violation of the general principles of law recognized by 
civilized nations’’; 
Whereas, on December 22, 1952, the Committee unanimously 
concluded in its final report that the Soviet NKVD com-
mitted the mass murders of the Polish officers and intel-
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•HRES 1323 IH 
lectual leaders in the Katyn Forest stating, ‘‘there has 
not been a scintilla of proof or even any remote cir-
cumstantial evidence presented that could indict any 
other nation in this international crime’’; 
Whereas the Soviet Union did not admit responsibility for 
this atrocity until President Mikhail Gorbachev’s state-
ment on April 13, 1990; 
Whereas since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the govern-
ment of the Russian Federation has refused to declassify 
and disclose all of its official records pertaining to the 
massacre; 
Whereas, on November 30, 2004, the Polish Institute of Na-
tional Remembrance—Departmental Commission for the 
Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation initiated 
its own investigation into the Katyn massacre; 
Whereas the year 2010 marks the 70th anniversary of the 
Katyn massacre; 
Whereas, on April 7, 2010, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir 
Putin became the first Russian or Soviet leader to join 
Polish officials in commemorating the anniversary of the 
murders; and 
Whereas despite the suppression of Polish freedoms by the 
Soviet Union during the Cold War, the United States and 
the Republic of Poland have preserved a strong and im-
portant friendship based on shared history and sacrifice: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) honors the lives and legacies of the approxi-
mately 22,000 Polish prisoners of war and intelli-
gentsia who were massacred by the Soviet People’s 
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•HRES 1323 IH 
Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) in and 
around the Katyn Forest 70 years ago; 
(2) expresses its deepest sympathies to the fam-
ilies of the Katyn victims for their profound loss; 
(3) expresses continued solidarity and unwaver-
ing support for the Polish people as they continue to 
investigate crimes committed against them; 
(4) urges the Government of the Russian Fed-
eration to fully declassify and disclose all official 
records pertaining to the Katyn massacre; and 
(5) urges the Government of the Russian Fed-
eration to fully cooperate with any pending inves-
tigation or inquiry pertaining to the massacre of 
Polish prisoners by the Soviet authorities. 
Æ 
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