House unanimously approves famine resolution (12/04/83)

House unanimously approves famine resolution

WASHINGTON - House Concurrent Resolution 111, commemorating the Great Ukrainian Famine of 1933, was unanimously approved on November 17, reported the Ukrainian National Information Service. It was submitted to the full House by Rep. Clement Zablocki (D-Wis.), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

The resolution, introduced by Reps. Gerald Solomon (R-N.Y.) and Hamilton Fish Jr. (R-N.Y.) and co-sponsored by 84 other members, calls upon the president to: issue a proclamation in mournful commemoration of the Great Famine in Ukraine during the year 1933, which constituted a deliberate and imperialistic policy of the Soviet Russian government to destroy the intellectual elite and large segments of the population of Ukraine and thus enhance its totalitarian Communist rule over the conquered Ukrainian nation; issue a warning that continued enslavement of the Ukrainian nation as well as other non-Russian nations within the USSR constitutes a threat to world peace and normal relationships among the peoples of Europe and the world at large; and manifest to the peoples of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics through an appropriate and official means the historic fact that the people of the United States share with them their aspirations for the recovery of their freedom and national independence.

According to Rep. Solomon, this resolution is "a tribute to the spirit of the Ukrainian people, which survives this crime and lives on in the face of a brutal oppressive and evil empire... It is also a tribute to the American people. It is their brave vow that they will never forget, and that they share with the Ukrainian people their sorrow and their aspirations for the recovery of their freedom and national sovereignty."

Rep. Fish reminded the House that his father introduced a similar resolution in 1934 "to focus public attention on this brutal famine and to express the sense of the House that the USSR should place 'no obstacles in the way of American citizens seeking to send aid in the form of money, foodstuffs and necessities to the famine-stricken regions of Ukraine.'"

The ranking minority member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Williams Broomfield (R-Mich.), stated that, "we cannot let this silence and ignorance over this tragedy continue. The government that engineered this famine 50 years ago continues to suppress the people of Ukraine today, and its callous attitude towards life has not changed as witnessed by its recent downing of the Korean passenger plane, and its willingness to use chemical weapons in Afghanistan."

The following congressmen co-sponsored H. Con. Res. 111:

Arizona: John McCain (R) and Eldon Rudd (R);

California: Robert E. Badham (R), George E. Brown (D), Vic Frazio (D), Robert J. Lagomarsino (R), Mel Levine (D), Leon E. Panetta (D) and Henry A. Waxman (D);

Colorado: Patricia Schroeder (R) and Timothy E. Wirth (D);

Connecticut: Sam Gejdenson (D), Nancy L. Johnson (R), Barbara B. Kennelly (D), Stewart B. McKinney (R) and Bruce A. Morrison (D);

Delaware: Thomas R. Carper (R);

Florida: Michael Bilirakis (R), Bill Chappell Jr. (D), Dante B. Fascell (D) and Bill McCollum (R);

Illinois: Frank Annunzio (D), Cardiss Collins (D), Tom Corcoran (R), Henry J. Hyde (R), William O. Lipinski (D), John Edward Porter (R);

Massachusetts: Brian J. Donnelly (D), Barney Frank (D), Joe Moakley (D) and Gerry E. Studds (D);

Michigan: William Broomfield (R), John D. Dingell (D), Dennis M. Hertel (D) and Sander M. Levin (D);

Minnesota: Vin Weber (R);

Nevada: Harry M. Reid (D);

New Jersey: James A. Courter (R), Bernard J. Dwyer (D), Edwin B. Forsythe (R), Frank J. Guarini (D), James J. Howard (D), William J. Hughes (D), Joseph G. Minish (D), Matthew J. Rinaldo (R), Robert A. Roe (D), Christopher H. Smith (R), Robert G. Torricelli (D);

New York: Joseph P. Addabbo (D), Mario Biaggi (D), Sherwood L. Boehlert (R), Geraldine A. Ferraro (D), Benjamin A. Gilman (R), Bill Green (R), Frank Horton (R), Jack F. Kemp (R), Raymond J. McGrath (R), Henry J. Nowak (D), Richard L. Ottinger (D), Major R. Owens (D), Charles B. Rangel (D), Charles E. Schumer (D), Samuel S. Stratton (D), Ted Weiss (D) and George C. Wortley (R):

North Carolina: James G. Martin (R);

Ohio: Dennis E. Eckart (D), Edward F. Feighan (D), Willis D. Gradison Jr. (R), Marcy Kaptur (D), John R. Kasich (R), Thomas N. Kindness (R), Mary Rose Oakar (D) and Louis Stokes (D);

Pennsylvania: Robert A. Borski (D), Lawrence Coughlin (R), William J. Coyne (D), George W. Gekas (R), Peter H. Kostmayer (D), Don Ritter (R) and Gus Yatron (D);

Puerto Rico: Baltasar Corrada (D);

Rhode Island: Fernand J. St. Germain (D);

Washington: Sid Morrison (R).

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