18 senators become co-sponsors of Senate famine resolution (10/23/83)

18 senators become co-sponsors of Senate famine resolution

by Eugene Iwanciw

WASHINGTON - Eighteen senators have become co-sponsors of Senate Concurrent Resolution 70 relating to the anniversary of the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate on September 29 under the sponsorship of Sens. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) and Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), reported the Congressional Subcommittee of the National Committee to Commemorate Genocide Victims in Ukraine.

In his introductory remarks, Sen. Hollings, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, stated: "It is time to break the silence and recognize the enormity of what occurred in Ukraine at that time. We must also understand it as a clear and brutal expression of Soviet behavior and policies which, in fundamental aspects, have changed little in over half a century."

The senator went on to state that "a government willing to exterminate an average of over 10,000 of its own people a day does not hesitate to kill another 269 for reasons of state or whim." The 269 was in reference to the shooting down of the Korean airliner on September 1.

Sen. Domenici, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, also made reference to the KAL incident by stating: "Just as the Soviets at first denied shooting down the Korean airliner and then defended their action, the Soviets denied the existence of the famine and then, when the evidence was overwhelming, defended their action. Nothing has changed in Soviet behavior during these past 50 years."

The New Mexico senator also quoted from recent interviews with Malcolm Muggeridge and former Rep. Hamilton Fish, who 50 years ago sponsored a similar resolution concerning the famine.

The resolution urges the president to designate May 28, 1984, the 50th anniversary of the date Rep. Fish introduced his resolution on the famine in the House of Representatives, as a day to commemorate the Great Ukrainian Famine. The resolution also calls on the president to focus world attention on the famine through public and diplomatic channels, and to urge the Soviet Union to lift restrictions on the shipment of food parcels and other necessities to Soviet citizens by private individuals and charitable organizations.

In a "dear colleague" letter dated September 29, Sens. Hollings and Domenici appealed to their colleagues to join as co-sponsors of S.Con.Res. 70. As of October 18, 18 senators responded to the letter and were added as co-sponsors of the resolution.

They are: Daniel P. Moynihan (D-N.Y.), Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), Dave Durenberger (R-Minn.), Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.), Jake Garn (R-Utah), Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.), J. James Exon (D-Neb.), Joseph R. Biden (D-Del.), Gary Hart (D-Colo.), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.), John Heinz (R-Pa.), Alan J. Dixon (D-Ill.), Charles Percy (R-Ill.), Dan Quayle (R-Ind.), Robert Dole (R-Kan.) and Quentin N. Burdick (R-N.D.).

The Congressional Subcommittee has urged Ukrainians to write to their senators and urge their co-sponsorship of S.Con.Res. 70 if they have not already co-sponsored it. For those senators who have co-sponsored the resolution, a thank-you letter should be sent. The subcommittee hopes to get at least 40 co-sponsors of the resolution and action by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The key to the Foreign Relations Committee's consideration of the resolution is the number of co-sponsors the resolution has attracted.

The subcommittee stressed that what is especially important for the prospects of the resolution is co-sponsorship by members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Members of the committee who have not yet co-sponsored are: Howard H. Baker (R-Tenn.), Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), Charles McC. Mathias (R-Md.), Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kan.), Rudy Boschwitz (R-Minn.), Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska), Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.), John Glenn (D-Ohio), Edward Zorinsky (D-Neb.), Paul E. Tsongas (D-Mass.), Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.).

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