Resolutions marking 70th anniversary of Famine introduced in Senate, House (08/10/03)

Resolutions marking 70th anniversary of Famine introduced in Senate, House

WASHINGTON - Resolutions commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 have been introduced in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Senate version (S. Res. 202) was introduced by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), co-chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, on July 28 and was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. The resolution is being co-sponsored by Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine, both Republicans of Ohio.

The version before the House of Representatives (H. Con. Res. 254) was introduced by Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), co-chair of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, on July 24 and was referred to the House Committee on International Relations. It is being co-sponsored by Reps. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), co-chairs of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus.

The resolutions both affirm the existence and severity of the Famine. The House version states that at least 7 million Ukrainians died during the Famine, and the Senate version writes that 25 percent of Ukraine's rural population was killed during that time. (The texts of both resolutions appear at the end of this story on pages 18-19.)

Both versions also attribute Joseph Stalin's motives to more than just a desire for collectivization. The House resolution describes "a policy of forced collectivization that sought to destroy Ukrainian aspirations for independence," while the Senate resolution writes of Stalin "using food as a political weapon to achieve the aim of suppressing any Ukrainian expression of political and cultural identity and self-determination."

The resolutions both mention Stalin's policy of exporting grain to the West even as Ukrainians were starving at an alarming rate, as well as Stalin's cover-up of the Famine. Additionally, both explicitly call the Famine a genocide. The House version notes that the United States Commission on the Ukraine Famine formed in 1985 had deemed the event a genocide, and the Senate resolution writes that "the man-made Ukraine Famine of 1932-1933 was an act of genocide as defined by the United Nations Genocide Convention."

While introducing the resolution, Sen. Campbell made a statement on the floor of the Senate, saying, "This year marks the 70th anniversary of Stalin's man-made famine, one of the most heinous crimes in a century notable for events that demonstrated the cruelty of totalitarian regimes."

Sen. Campbell went on to quote Dr. James E. Mace, the staff director of the congessionally created U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine, who said, "For Stalin to have completely centralized power in his hands, he found it necessary to physically destroy the second largest Soviet republic, meaning the annihilation of the Ukrainian peasantry, Ukrainian intelligentsia, Ukrainian language and history as understood by the people; to do away with Ukraine and things Ukrainian as such. The calculation was very simple, very primitive: no people, therefore, no separate country, and thus no problem. Such a policy is genocide in the classic sense of the word."

Earlier this year, Rep. Levin introduced a bill to erect a monument in Washington to commemorate the victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide. The bill calls for the monument to be unveiled in 2008, in time for the 75th anniversary of the Famine-Genocide.

HOUSE RESOLUTION 254

H. Con. Res. 254 in the House of Representatives.

Expressing the sense of Congress that the 70th anniversary of the 1932- 1933 man-made famine in Ukraine ("Holodomor") should serve as a reminder of the incredible suffering and loss sustained by the Ukrainian people as a result of intentional policies implemented by the government of the former Soviet Union.

Mr. Levin submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations.

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress that the 70th anniversary of the 1932-1933 man-made famine in Ukraine ("Holodomor") should serve as a reminder of the incred-ible suffering and loss sustained by the Ukrainian people as a result of intentional policies implemented by the government of the former Soviet Union.

Whereas 2003 marks the 70th anniversary of the Ukrainian forced-famine of 1932-1933, which resulted in the deaths of at least 7 million Ukrainians and was covered up and officially denied by the government of the former Soviet Union;

Whereas the Soviet government deliberately confiscated grain harvests and starved millions of Ukrainian men, women and children in a policy of forced collectivization that sought to destroy Ukrainian aspirations for independence;

Whereas the Soviet government ordered the borders of Ukraine sealed to prevent anyone from escaping the artificial famine and preventing any international food aid from providing relief to the starving;

Whereas Canadian wheat expert Andrew Cairns 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 denying food aid to the people of Ukraine;

Whereas nearly a quarter of Ukraine's rural population was eliminated due to the artificially induced starvation, and the entire nation suffered from the consequences of the prolonged famine;

Whereas noted correspondents of the time were disparaged and criticized for their courage in depicting and reporting of the forced famine in Ukraine, including Gareth Jones, William Henry Chamberlin, and Malcolm Muggeridge who wrote "[t]hey [the Ukrainians] will tell you that many have already died of famine and that many are dying every day";

Whereas the United States Commission on the Ukraine Famine was formed on December 13, 1985, to conduct a study with the goal of expanding the world's knowledge and understanding of the famine;

Whereas the commission's final report concluded that the victims "starved to death in a man-made famine" and that "Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-1933"; and

Whereas with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, archival documents confirm the deliberate and premeditated nature of the famine and the government of the former Soviet Union was exposed for its atrocities against the Ukrainian people:

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representa-tives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that:

(1) the victims of the Soviet-engineered Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933 be solemnly remembered on its 70th anniversary;

(2) the systematic violations of human rights, freedom of self-determination, and freedom of speech of the Ukrainian people by the government of the former Soviet Union should be condemned;

(3) information regarding the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933 should be disseminated in order to expand the world's knowledge of this man-made tragedy; and

(4) on the 70th anniversary of the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933, efforts in Ukraine should be supported to ensure democratic principles, a free-market economy, and full respect for human rights, thereby enabling Ukraine to achieve its potential as an important strategic partner in the region.

SENATE RESOLUTION 202

S. RES. 202 in the Senate of the United States.

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

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the genocidal Ukraine Famine of 1932-1933.

Whereas 2003 marks the 70th anniversary of the Ukraine Famine, a man-made disaster that resulted in the deaths of millions of innocent Ukrainian men, women, and children and annihilated an estimated 25 percent of the rural population of that country;

Whereas it has been documented that large numbers of inhabitants of Ukraine and the then largely ethnically Ukrainian North Caucasus Territory starved to death in the Famine of 1932-1933, which was caused by forced collectivization and grain seizures by the Soviet regime;

Whereas the United States Government's Commission on the Ukraine Famine concluded that former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his associates committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-1933, using food as a political weapon to achieve the aim of suppressing any Ukrainian expression of political and cultural identity and self-determination;

Whereas, as a result, millions of rural Ukrainians starved amid some of the world's most fertile farmland, while Soviet authorities prevented them from traveling to areas where food was more available;

Whereas requisition brigades, acting on Stalin's orders to fulfill the impossibly high grain quotas, seized the 1932 crop, often taking away the last scraps of food from starving families and children and killing those who resisted;

Whereas Stalin, knowing of the resulting starvation, intensified the extraction from Ukraine of agricultural produce, worsening the situation and deepening the loss of life;

Whereas, during the Ukraine Famine, the Soviet government exported grain to western countries and rejected international offers to assist the starving population;

Whereas the Ukraine Famine was not a result of natural causes, but was instead the consequence of calculated, ruthless policies that were designed to destroy the political, cultural, and human rights of the Ukrainian people;

Whereas the Soviet Union engaged in a massive cover-up of the Ukraine Famine, and journalists, including some foreign correspondents, cooperated with the campaign of denial and deception; and

Whereas, 70 years later, much of the world is still unaware of the genocidal Ukraine Famine:

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that:

(1) the millions of innocent victims of the Soviet-engineered Ukraine Famine of 1932-1933 should be solemnly remembered and honored on the 70th anniversary of the famine;

(2) the 70th anniversary of the Ukraine Famine should serve as a stark reminder of the brutality of the totalitarian, imperialistic Soviet regime under which respect for human rights was a mockery and the rule of law a sham;

(3) the Senate condemns the callous disregard for human life, human rights, and manifestations of national identity that characterized the Stalinist policies that caused the Ukrainian Famine;

(4) the man-made Ukraine Famine of 1932-1933 was an act of genocide as defined by the United Nations Genocide Convention;

(5) the Senate supports the efforts of the government of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) to publicly acknowledge and call greater international attention to the Ukraine Famine; and

(6) an independent, democratic Ukraine, in which respect for the dignity of human beings is the cornerstone, offers the best guarantee that atrocities such as the Ukraine Famine never beset the Ukrainian people again.

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