Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the 85th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 (Holodomor) should serve as a reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the people of Ukraine.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Recognizes the 85th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor) of 1932-1933 and extends sympathies to the victims, survivors, and families of that tragedy. Encourages dissemination of information regarding the famine.
Condemns the systematic violations of human rights of the Ukrainian people by the Soviet government.
Supports the continuing efforts of the people of Ukraine to work toward ensuring democratic principles, a free-market economy, and full respect for human rights.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 608 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 608

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the 85th 
 anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 (Holodomor) 
 should serve as a reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the 
                           people of Ukraine.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 7, 2017

 Mr. Levin (for himself, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Mr. Harris) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the 85th 
 anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 (Holodomor) 
 should serve as a reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the 
                           people of Ukraine.

Whereas 2017 marks the 85th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 
        1932-1933;
Whereas, in 1932 and 1933, an estimated 7 to 10 million Ukrainian people 
        perished at the will of the totalitarian Stalinist Government of the 
        former Soviet Union, which perpetrated a premeditated famine in Ukraine 
        in an effort to break the nation's resistance to collectivization and 
        communist occupation;
Whereas the Soviet Government deliberately confiscated grain harvests and 
        starved millions of Ukrainian men, women, and children by a policy of 
        forced collectivization that sought to destroy the nationally conscious 
        movement for independence;
Whereas Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin ordered the borders of Ukraine sealed to 
        prevent anyone from escaping the man-made starvation and preventing any 
        international food aid that would provide relief to the starving;
Whereas numerous scholars worldwide have worked to uncover the scale of the 
        famine, including Canadian wheat expert Andrew Cairns who visited 
        Ukraine in 1932 and was told that there was no grain ``because the 
        government had collected so much grain and exported it to England and 
        Italy'', while simultaneously denying food aid to the people of Ukraine;
Whereas nearly a quarter of Ukraine's rural population perished or was forced 
        into exile due to the forcibly induced starvation, and the entire nation 
        suffered from the consequences of the prolonged famine;
Whereas the Soviet Government manipulated and censored foreign journalists, 
        including New York Times correspondent, Walter Duranty, whose reports 
        from Ukraine knowingly denied not only the scope and magnitude, but also 
        the existence, of the man-made famine;
Whereas noted correspondents of the time were refuted for their courage in 
        depicting and reporting of the forced famine in Ukraine, including 
        Gareth Jones, William Henry Chamberlin, and Malcolm Muggeridge who wrote 
        ``They (the peasants) will tell you that many have already died of 
        famine and that many are dying every day; that thousands have been shot 
        by the government and hundreds of thousands exiled . . .'';
Whereas, in May 1934, former United States Congressman Hamilton Fish (NY) 
        introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives (H. Res. 399, 
        73d Congress, 2d Session), which called for the condemnation of the 
        Government of the former Soviet Union for its acts of destruction of the 
        Ukrainian people;
Whereas Public Law 99-180, signed into law on December 13, 1985, established the 
        Commission on the Ukraine Famine to conduct a study to expand the 
        world's knowledge of the famine and provide the American public with a 
        better understanding of the former Soviet system by revealing the Soviet 
        role in the Ukraine famine;
Whereas the final report of the United States Government's Commission on the 
        Ukraine Famine, concluded that the victims were ``starved to death in a 
        man-made famine'' and that ``Joseph Stalin and those around him 
        committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-1933'';
Whereas with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, archival documents became 
        available that confirmed the deliberate and premeditated deadly nature 
        of the famine, and that exposed the atrocities committed by the Soviet 
        Government against the Ukrainian people;
Whereas the Parliament of Ukraine passed on November 28, 2006, law No.: N 376-V 
        ``About the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine'' that gave official 
        recognition to the Famine as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian 
        people;
Whereas the Congress passed and the President of the United States signed Public 
        Law 109-340 on October 13, 2006, authorizing ``the Government of Ukraine 
        to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia to 
        honor the victims of the Ukrainian famine-genocide of 1932-1933'', which 
        was officially dedicated in November 2015;
Whereas the Government of Ukraine and the Ukrainian communities in the United 
        States and worldwide continue their efforts to secure greater 
        international awareness and understanding of the 1932-1933 tragedy; and
Whereas victims of the 1932-1933 Famine-Genocide (Holodomor) will be 
        commemorated by Ukrainian communities around the globe, and in Ukraine 
        through November 2018: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) solemnly remembers the 85th anniversary of the 
        Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor) of 1932-1933 and extends its 
        deepest sympathies to the victims, survivors, and families of 
        this tragedy;
            (2) condemns the systematic violations of human rights, 
        including the freedom of self-determination and freedom of 
        speech, of the Ukrainian people by the Soviet Government;
            (3) encourages dissemination of information regarding the 
        Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor) in order to expand the world's 
        knowledge of this man-made tragedy; and
            (4) supports the continuing efforts of the people of 
        Ukraine to work toward ensuring democratic principles, a free-
        market economy, and full respect for human rights, in order to 
        enable Ukraine to achieve its potential as an important 
        strategic partner of the United States in that region of the 
        world, and to reflect the will of its people.
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