ACTION ITEM

Famine-Genocide monument in Washington

Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), co-chair of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, has once again introduced a bill (H.R. 4450) to erect a monument to the victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933. This bill proposes to allocate a plot of land in Washington, to honor the memory of the millions of victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide. The monument would be unveiled during the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide in the year 2008.

Currently, as many as 12 additional members of Congress have co-sponsored the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide Memorial Bill. The Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS) requests that members of the Ukrainian American community contact their representatives and urge them to co-sponsor this bill. (A sample letter appears below.) For further information readers may call UNIS at (202) 547-0018, e-mail [email protected], or log on to http://www.ucca.org/unis.

SAMPLE LETTER

The Honorable (Name)
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative (Name):

As a member of the Ukrainian American community, I was pleased to hear of H.R. 4450, introduced by Rep. Levin, which would allocate a plot of land in Washington, for the Ukrainian American community to erect a monument to the victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933.

The Communist government, in order to break the will of the nation and stop the resistance against collectivization and Russification of the Ukrainian people, perpetrated this genocide of the Ukrainian people. The Soviets annihilated nearly 10 million Ukrainian civilians, and for nearly 70 years the world was unaware of this disaster. After the collapse of the "Evil Empire," the topic of the genocide became paramount to ensuring historical justice and vindicating millions of innocent victims who lost their lives because they wanted to live in freedom.

It is important that the memory of the innocent victims does not vanish. Knowledge of the horrors suffered by the Ukrainian nation will serve as a constant reminder that the free world cannot rest as long as oppressive regimes exist worldwide. It is our duty to prevent similar genocides from happening. A monument to the victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide in the capital of the United States will demonstrate that our great nation has always fought, and would always fight, for the oppressed.

I respectfully urge you to join the co-sponsors of this bill and support its passage.

Sincerely,
(your name)

- Submitted by the Ukrainian National Information Service

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 13, 2004, No. 24, Vol. LXXII

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