EDITORIAL: Stop stalling S. Res. 202 (03/21/04)

EDITORIAL

Stop stalling S. Res. 202

Over the course of the past few months we have on occasion used this space to voice our strong support for Senate Resolution 202, "A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the genocidal Ukraine Famine of 1932-1933," and have often asked our readers to write their senators and urge support for the resolution.

Now, with the presidential election in the United States approaching, the two front runners in that election have demonstrated to us their stance with regard to the issue. But before we address that topic further, a little background on S. Res. 202 is in order.

Since the resolution was introduced, nearly eight months ago, on July 28, 2003, by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), co-chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, it has been endorsed by 28 co-sponsors, but has nonetheless languished in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A similar resolution, H. Res. 356, whisked through the House of Representatives and on October 20, 2003, passed in that chamber without a single dissenting vote. The major difference between the two resolutions, however, is the use of the term genocide when describing the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933. While the Senate resolution, which unequivocally states that "the man-made Ukraine famine of 1932-1933 was an act of genocide as defined by the United Nations Genocide Convention," the House resolution does not call the famine a genocide, but instead quotes the U.S. Government's Commission on the Ukraine Famine, which states that "Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-1933."

Currently, S. Res. 202 sits stalled in the Foreign Relations Committee, where Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) waits for the resolution to have its language altered or be abandoned altogether. When asked whether Sen. Lugar supports S. Res. 202, his press secretary at the Foreign Relations Committee, Andy Fisher, told The Weekly via e-mail that "Sen. Lugar supports H. Res. 356, a resolution on this issue. It passed the House by a vote of 382-0. It was introduced by Congressman [Henry] Hyde, the chairman of the House International Relations Committee." Asked again whether Sen. Lugar supports the Senate resolution, Mr. Fisher said the senator does not.

However, the situation still begs the question, How can a Senate resolution with 29 sponsors, nearly one-third of the entire U.S. Senate, sit in committee for nearly eight months? The answer, Mr. Fisher told The Weekly on March 17, rests with the White House. "The major hold-up to S. Res. 202 is that the Bush administration has expressed strong opposition to it," Mr. Fisher said via e-mail. Repeated phone calls made to the White House to clarify why the administration opposes S. Res. 202 were not returned.

The dilemma for Mr. Bush, according to informed sources familiar with the Senate legislation, is twofold. On the one hand, Russia continues to oppose any legislative language that calls the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933 a genocide. On the other hand, and our sources tell us this is the real pressure against S. Res. 202, the Turkish government fears that if the 1932-1933 Famine in Ukraine is recognized as genocide it would spur similar action from Armenians who seek recognition for the genocide that took place in Turkey from 1915 to 1918.

Writing in The Weekly on January 11, Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the Bush administration opposes passage of S. Res. 202 because "the administration disagrees with the use of the term 'genocide' to describe the Stalinist policies in Ukraine." Sen. Biden rightfully argued that "the Senate Resolution is not an anti-Russian piece of legislation. It carefully avoids any accusations of collective guilt for the genocide and casts no aspersions on the current Russian government."

While the Bush administration's lack of support for S. Res. 202 is disheartening, we should note that the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry, voiced his support for the Senate resolution months ago when he became a co-sponsor on October 30, 2003.

S. Res. 202, we noted in a previous editorial, has bipartisan senatorial support -10 Republicans and 19 Democrats now co-sponsor the resolution. However, even with such significant co-sponsorship from both sides of the aisle, sadly Sen. Lugar, it seems, would rather take his cue on this issue from an administration more willing to appease foreign governments than to acknowledge the genocide that killed 7 million to 10 million in Ukraine - the kin of 900,000 Americans of Ukrainian ancestry.

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