III 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 650 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 26, 2022 Mr. Kaine (for himself, Mr. Portman , Mr. Durbin , and Mr. Van Hollen ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Recognizing May 28 as World Hunger Day , that the 90th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932–1933, known as the Holodomor, should serve as a reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the people of Ukraine, and that Vladimir Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine has diminished Ukraine’s agricultural output and threatens to exacerbate the problems of global hunger on World Hunger Day.

Whereas Ukraine is a major global exporter of agricultural products critical to global food supplies, including wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower; Whereas Ukrainian wheat output has decreased by 34 percent, and corn, barley, and other grain output has decreased by more than 50 percent in the past year as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine; Whereas Russia’s illegal occupation of the Crimean peninsula and Ukrainian Black Sea ports of Mariupol and Kherson, its assault on Odessa, its use of naval mines in the Black Sea and land mines in Ukraine’s agricultural areas, and the destruction of Ukrainian export terminals and transportation infrastructure have severely constrained Ukraine’s ability to export grain; Whereas the number of people around the world facing acute food insecurity greatly increased from 135,000,000 in 2019, to 193,000,000 in 2021, nearly 40,000,000 people experienced emergency levels of acute food insecurity (just one step away from famine) in 2021, and the number of people experiencing such food insecurity is projected to increase in 2022; Whereas the effects of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine are expected to increase global grain prices and disproportionately impact low- and middle-income countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa who are dependent on imported Ukrainian wheat; Whereas the totality of these actions by Russia represents an intentional and concerted effort to attack the Ukrainian agricultural sector resembling the Ukrainian Famine of 1932–1933, which was caused by the former Soviet Union; Whereas, Senate Resolution 435, which was passed by the Senate on October 3, 2018, commemorated the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor and recognized the Soviet Union’s role in perpetrating this genocide against the Ukrainian people; Whereas 2022–2023 marks the 90th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932–1933, which is also known as the Holodomor; Whereas, in 1932 and 1933, millions of 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 Government of the Soviet Union 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 manmade starvation and to prevent the delivery of 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 Joseph Stalin simultaneously denied food aid to the people of Ukraine; Whereas nearly a quarter of Ukraine’s rural population perished or were forced into exile due to the induced starvation and the entire nation suffered from the consequences of the prolonged famine; Whereas noted correspondents of the time were refuted for their courage in depicting and reporting on the forced famine in Ukraine, including Gareth Jones, William Henry Chamberlin, and Malcolm Muggeridge, who wrote [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 title V of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1986 ( Public Law 99–180 ; 99 Stat. 1157), which was enacted on December 13, 1985, established the Commission on the Ukraine Famine to 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 in it; 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 Raphael Lemkin, who devoted his life to the development of legal concepts and norms for containing mass atrocities and whose tireless advocacy swayed the United Nations in 1948 to adopt the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, authored an essay in 1953 entitled Soviet Genocide in the Ukraine , which highlighted the classic example of Soviet genocide characterizing it not simply a case of mass murder. It is a case of genocide, of destruction, not of individuals only, but of a culture and a nation ; Whereas Ukraine’s law Number 376–V, Law of Ukraine on the Starvation in Ukraine of 1932–1933 , which was enacted on November 28, 2006, gave official recognition to the Holodomor as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people; Whereas, on October 13, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law Public Law 109–340 , which authorized 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 , and the Holodomor Memorial 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 Holodomor of 1932–1933 will be commemorated by Ukrainian communities around the globe and in Ukraine through November 2022: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1) condemns Vladimir Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine, and his weaponization of hunger, which has increased global food prices and food insecurity in the world; (2) calls upon Vladimir Putin and the Russian Armed Forces to immediately cease their blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to allow all Ukrainian food exports to resume; (3) calls attention to the impending global food crisis by observing May 28, 2022, as World Hunger Day ; (4) solemnly remembers the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932–1933, and extends its deepest sympathies to the victims, survivors, and families of this tragedy; (5) condemns the systematic violations of human rights, including the freedom of self-determination and freedom of speech of the Ukrainian people by the Government of the Soviet Union; (6) recognizes the findings of the Commission on the Ukraine Famine, as submitted to Congress on April 22, 1988, including that Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against the Ukrainians in 1932–1933 ; (7) encourages dissemination of information regarding the Holodomor of 1932–1933 in order to expand the world’s knowledge of this manmade tragedy; and (8) supports the continuing efforts of the people of Ukraine to defend themselves against Russian aggression, to work toward ensuring democratic principles, a free economy, and full respect for human rights in order to enable Ukraine to achieve its full potential in accord with the desires of the Ukrainian people and to deepen the partnership between Ukraine, the United States, and all democratic nations.