Title: A resolution commemorating July 2018 as "Liu Xiaobo Victims of Communism Month".
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Commemorates July 2018 as Liu Xiaobo Victims of Communism Month.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 587 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 587

 Commemorating July 2018 as ``Liu Xiaobo Victims of Communism Month''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 23, 2018

Mr. Cruz submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Commemorating July 2018 as ``Liu Xiaobo Victims of Communism Month''.

Whereas the communist ideology is directly responsible for crimes against 
        humanity;
Whereas communist regimes have been directly responsible for crimes against 
        humanity, mass starvations, and the murder of tens of millions of 
        people;
Whereas awareness of the crimes against humanity committed by communist regimes 
        on behalf of communist ideology throughout the world must inform the 
        minds of the people of the United States;
Whereas Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published ``The Communist Manifesto'' in 
        February 1848;
Whereas ``The Communist Manifesto'' defines communism as the ``abolition of 
        private property'';
Whereas communists, in the words of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, ``openly 
        declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow 
        of all existing social conditions'';
Whereas the crimes of communists were justified by class struggle theory and the 
        principle of the dictatorship of the ``proletariat'' and used terror as 
        a method to preserve the dictatorship;
Whereas Vladimir Lenin led the October Revolution in 1918 that forcibly 
        overthrew the social and political institutions of Russia and resulted 
        in the establishment of the first communist government in history;
Whereas the subsequent Red Terror that followed the October Revolution claimed 
        the lives of approximately 1,500,000 Russians;
Whereas Vladimir Lenin oversaw the mass campaign of violence of the October 
        Revolution and the Red Terror with no moral qualms, and asked instead: 
        ``How can you make a revolution without executions?'';
Whereas the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (referred to in this preamble as 
        the ``USSR'') was formally established in 1922;
Whereas the USSR partnered with Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany in the 1930s, 
        culminating in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939;
Whereas the USSR coordinated an invasion of eastern Poland in 1939 according to 
        the terms of a secret additional protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact 
        of 1939;
Whereas the Red Army of the USSR and Wehrmacht of Germany held a joint military 
        parade in Brest, Poland, after which occupation of the city was 
        transferred to the Red Army;
Whereas, during the USSR occupation of Brest, Poland, the USSR arrested and 
        deported more than 500,000 Jewish refugees, many of whom died en route 
        to Siberia;
Whereas the USSR carried out ruthless violence against religious minorities, 
        including campaigns to suppress the religious traditions and culture of 
        the Jewish population of the USSR;
Whereas tens of thousands of Jews were killed between 1918 and 1920 as a result 
        of organized pogroms during the civil war that followed the Bolshevik 
        Revolution in the USSR;
Whereas the USSR conducted open anti-Semitic campaigns aimed at completely 
        eliminating Jewish cultural life;
Whereas approximately 1,000,000 Jews were killed by the German Einstzgruppen, or 
        deployment groups, in USSR-occupied territories during World War II;
Whereas, under Joseph Stalin alone, more than 20,000,000 deaths occurred in the 
        USSR as a result of executions, Gulag camps, and famine;
Whereas, during the Great Purge in the USSR, approximately 700,000 political 
        dissidents were executed by gunshot to the back of the head;
Whereas approximately 1,700,000 people died in the Gulag camps, where prisoners 
        ranging from political dissidents to petty criminals were subjected to 
        forced labor, extreme temperatures, and harsh treatment;
Whereas communist agricultural policies caused the Soviet Famine of 1932 to 
        1933, which led to the deaths of an estimated 7,500,000 victims, 
        including the Holodomor, the deliberate genocidal famine of millions of 
        Ukranians;
Whereas the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has adopted a 
        resolution declaring the ``cruel and deliberate actions and policies of 
        the Soviet regime'' that created the Holodomor were responsible for the 
        deaths of millions of people in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, 
        and Russia;
Whereas the USSR conducted a series of ethnically motivated deportations under 
        extremely harsh conditions, causing the deaths of several hundred 
        thousand victims;
Whereas the USSR funded communist revolutions around the world and trained 
        insurgent forces to topple existing governments, including those in 
        Mongolia, Romania, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cuba, North Korea, and 
        China;
Whereas agents associated with the USSR entered the Mongolian People's Republic 
        to engineer the Mongolian Great Terror, in which approximately 35,000 
        people were executed, including approximately 18,000 Buddhist lamas;
Whereas the Socialist Republic of Romania, a Soviet-backed, communist regime, 
        committed massive human rights violations, killing or persecuting as 
        many as 2,000,000 people between 1945 and 1989;
Whereas the USSR recognized the independence of North Vietnam, legitimizing the 
        insurgency of Ho Chi Minh against France, as a means of fighting against 
        the United States;
Whereas, during the Vietnam War, communist North Vietnam caused the deaths of 
        approximately 58,220 Americans;
Whereas nearly 365,000 Vietnamese civilians are estimated to have died as a 
        result of the Vietnam War, including in the horrific massacre by North 
        Vietnam at Hue, Vietnam;
Whereas, after the Vietnam War, the Communist Party of Vietnam is estimated to 
        have caused the deaths of approximately 430,000 people through 
        executions, deportations, and causing people to flee persecution, many 
        of whom were lost at sea;
Whereas the Government of Vietnam continues to suppress the basic human and 
        civil rights of its citizens, including freedom of speech, the press, 
        association, and religion;
Whereas human rights activists and bloggers in Vietnam face harassment, 
        intimidation, physical assault, and imprisonment at the hands of the 
        Government of Vietnam;
Whereas the deaths of approximately 85,000 people during and after the Laotian 
        Civil War are attributable to the incursions of communist North Vietnam;
Whereas the USSR and North Vietnam helped install the communist Lao People's 
        Revolutionary Party (referred to in this preamble as the ``LPRP'') as 
        the sole political party of Laos;
Whereas the LPRP has been accused of committing genocide against the Hmong 
        people, with up to 100,000 people killed out of a population of 400,000;
Whereas the LPRP still restricts many of the civil and political rights of its 
        citizens, including freedom of speech, association, religion, and 
        assembly;
Whereas the USSR and North Vietnam supported the Communist Party of Kampuchea 
        (referred to in this preamble as the ``Khmer Rouge'') in overthrowing 
        the government of the King of Cambodia;
Whereas, under the leadership of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge carried out the 
        Cambodian genocide, which caused the deaths of a \1/4\ of the population 
        of Cambodia in only 4 years;
Whereas the Khmer Rouge tortured and executed as many as 17,000 individuals in 
        the S-21 jail in Phnom Penh, Cambodia;
Whereas the Killing Fields were sites in Cambodia where many Cambodians were 
        killed and left in mass graves by the Khmer Rouge;
Whereas experts estimate that the remains of more than 1,300,000 victims of 
        execution are buried at the Killing Fields in Cambodia, representing 
        only 60 percent of the full death toll of the Cambodian genocide;
Whereas the Khmer Rouge brutally tortured and executed Stuart Glass of Canada, 
        John Dewhirst of Great Britain, and Kerry Hamill of New Zealand after 
        their boat strayed into Cambodian waters in 1978;
Whereas the USSR lent the newly established communist regime of Fidel Castro in 
        Cuba economic and diplomatic support to undermine the influence of the 
        United States in the Western Hemisphere;
Whereas the President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, ordered the executions of 582 
        supporters of the former Cuban government in 1959 following the 
        overthrow of former President Fulgencio Batista;
Whereas, under the authority of President Castro, between 4,000 and 17,000 
        individuals were executed by the infamous firing squads of the Cuban 
        Communist Party;
Whereas, in the 1960s and 1970s, homosexuals, clergy, and others who posed a 
        threat to the regime of President Castro were rounded up and sent to 
        labor camps for re-education;
Whereas President Castro acknowledged holding up to 15,000 political prisoners 
        in 1964;
Whereas, under President Castro, the Cuban Communist Party refused access to 
        Cuba to international monitors such as the International Committee of 
        the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch;
Whereas the Government of Cuba continues to heavily censor all media;
Whereas the Government of Cuba continues to deny basic human rights, including 
        freedom of expression, religion, association, and assembly;
Whereas the USSR lent diplomatic and military support to the Democratic People's 
        Republic of Korea and its ruling party, the communist Worker's Party of 
        Korea (referred to in this preamble as the ``WPK''), shortly after the 
        country was founded on September 9, 1948;
Whereas, during the Korean War, the WPK caused the deaths of 36,914 Americans;
Whereas the WPK caused the deaths of an estimated 1,700,000 people including 
        through execution, forced labor, starvation, and Gulags;
Whereas the WPK continues to restrict all civil and political liberties of its 
        citizens;
Whereas the WPK prohibits political opposition, independent media, civil 
        society, and trade unions;
Whereas the WPK currently incarcerates an estimated 200,000 political prisoners;
Whereas the WPK uses forced labor, physical abuse, and execution as tactics of 
        fear to maintain obedience and control;
Whereas the WPK fails to provide stable support for the rights of minority 
        groups, including women, children, people with disabilities, and 
        prisoners;
Whereas the USSR financed the establishment of the Chinese Soviet Republic in 
        1931, an independent government within the Jiangxi province of China, 
        where Mao Zedong began his protracted revolution against the Kuomintang;
Whereas Mao Zedong and the Chinese Red Army conquered the Kuomintang and 
        established the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949;
Whereas Mao Zedong orchestrated the deaths of more than 78,000,000 men, women, 
        and children over the course of 3 decades from starvation, forced labor, 
        torture, public execution, and warfare;
Whereas Mao Zedong directed the cultural genocide of the Tibetans, brutally 
        executing approximately 92,000 people, who largely consisted of educated 
        people and leaders of the Tibetan population;
Whereas Mao Zedong justified bloodshed as a necessity for communist revolution, 
        saying: ``A revolution is not a dinner party, nor a literary 
        composition, nor painting nor embroidering. It cannot be done so 
        delicately, so leisurely, so gentlemanly and gently, kindly, politely 
        and modestly. Revolution is insurrection, the violent action of one 
        class overthrowing the power of another.'';
Whereas the Communist Party of China faced its first existential threat to power 
        in June 1989, the same year the Berlin Wall collapsed, when students and 
        professors peacefully demonstrated for democracy at Tiananmen Square in 
        Beijing, China;
Whereas hundreds of the protesters at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lost 
        their lives at the hands of the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China after the government sent troops and tanks to sweep the square 
        clean;
Whereas Liu Xiaobo, a visiting lecturer at Columbia University in the United 
        States, left the United States to help lead the protest at Tiananmen 
        Square in Beijing, China;
Whereas Liu Xiaobo initiated the Tiananmen Four Gentlemen Hunger Strike, which 
        lasted 3 days;
Whereas Liu Xiaobo is credited with saving the lives of many students by helping 
        negotiate evacuation of the students from Tiananmen Square;
Whereas Liu Xiaobo was detained and jailed from 1989 to 1991 for his role in the 
        protest at Tiananmen Square, and then jailed again in 1996 through 1999 
        for advocating that the Government of the People's Republic of China 
        redress its wrongdoing in the student protest;
Whereas, in 1996, Liu Xiaobo married Liu Xia, who has stood bravely by his side 
        as a partner and fellow activist;
Whereas, on December 9, 2008, a diverse group of more than 300 Chinese scholars, 
        writers, lawyers, and activists issued Charter 08, a manifesto calling 
        on the Communist Party of China to abandon authoritarian rule in favor 
        of democracy, the guarantee of human rights, and the rule of law;
Whereas Charter 08 boldly declared: ``The `New China' established in 1949 is a 
        `people's republic' in name, but in reality it is a `party domain.' The 
        ruling party monopolizes all the political, economic, and social 
        resources. It has created a string of human rights disasters . . . 
        causing tens of millions of deaths, and exacting a disastrous price from 
        both the people and the country.'';
Whereas Liu Xiaobo was one of the original drafters of Charter 08 and was taken 
        into custody just days before the manifesto was released;
Whereas, in December 2009, a court in Beijing, China, sentenced Liu Xiaobo to 11 
        years in prison for ``inciting subversion of state power'' for his 
        involvement in drafting Charter 08;
Whereas Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 8, 2010, ``for 
        his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in 
        China'';
Whereas Liu Xia was held in extra-legal home confinement from October 2010, 2 
        weeks after the announcement of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to 
        her husband, to July 2018, and reportedly suffered severe health 
        problems that required hospitalization;
Whereas Liu Xiaobo was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer in May 2017;
Whereas Liu Xiaobo died on July 13, 2017, while serving his 11-year prison 
        sentence, and is survived by his wife Liu Xia;
Whereas Liu Xiaobo dedicated his life to freedom, not only in his own country of 
        China, but across the world;
Whereas the Communist Party of China continues to prevent Liu Hui, the brother 
        of Liu Xia, from leaving China;
Whereas, in different parts of the world, some totalitarian regimes survive and, 
        by continuing to cling to power, they commit crimes and impose a high 
        cost to the well-being of their people; and
Whereas the millions of victims of communism, both present and past, are 
        entitled to justice, sympathy, understanding, and recognition of their 
        suffering: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate commemorates July 2018 as ``Liu Xiaobo 
Victims of Communism Month''.
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