Congressional committee hears the case for a Famine-Genocide memorial in D.C. (07/03/05)

Congressional committee hears the case for a Famine-Genocide memorial in D.C.

Ukrainian National Information Service

WASHINGTON - The Congressional Resources Committee, Subcommittee on National Parks, met on June 9 to consider the case for a Ukrainian Famine-Genocide memorial in the nation's capital.

House Resolution 562 "to authorize the government of Ukraine to establish a memorial on federal land in the District of Columbia to honor the victims of the man-made Famine" would memorialize the 7 million to 10 million people who died in the 1932-1933 Ukrainian Famine-Genocide.

Although the resolution has received support from various quarters, some say the planned Victims of Communism Memorial should incorporate the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine among its many historical references. However, many members of Congress, including Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), who introduced the resolution on February 2, feel that this memorial should be separate because of the Famine's significance and magnitude.

Rep. Levin's testimony appears to have found support among the committee members, who stated that the magnitude, significance and "inhumane malice" of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide should be memorialized and not encompassed within the Victims of Communism Memorial.

Rep. Levin also noted that the "Ukrainian government will donate the memorial" at "no cost to the taxpayers ... just the land needs to be dedicated."

Testimony given by Michael Sawkiw Jr., president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and director of the Ukrainian National Information Service, the UCCA's Washington office, further demonstrated the need and significance of a Ukrainian Famine-Genocide memorial. His testimony provided the historical background of the Famine-Genocide, its cover-up by Soviet authorities, and its significance and importance in world history.

The idea for a Washington memorial to the Famine-Genocide has been in the works for years, and Mr. Sawkiw underscored this with a reference to the 70th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide when President George W. Bush stated: "The world must teach the lessons from this dark chapter in [Ukrainian] history to future generations and prevent atrocities like this in the future."

The UCCA leader pointed out that the magnitude and significance of this human calamity prompted historians to realize that "food was, and can be, used as a political weapon." This lesson is as important today as it will be in the future, he added, and a Famine memorial will serve as a concrete reminder of that lesson.

The text of HR 562 includes as its first section "Findings," in which it is noted that "Congress finds the following:

"(1) Internationally accepted principles of human rights condemn the use of food as a political weapon.

"(2) In the years 1932-1933, Ukraine was ravaged and its people brought to the verge of physical extinction by a Famine caused not by natural causes such as pestilence, drought, floods or poor harvest, but as a consequence of a premeditated policy on the part of the Soviet government led by Joseph Stalin to crush the nationally conscious Ukrainian people and destroy their national, political, cultural and religious rights.

"3) Attempts at intercessions were made by the United States government during the height of the Famine, in the fall/winter of 1932-1933, indicating that it has always been the traditional policy of the United States to recognize events such as the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine.

"(4) The United States Commission on the Ukraine Famine found in its report filed in 1988 pursuant to Public Law 98-473 that the victims were 'starved to death in a man-made famine' and that 'Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against Ukraine in 1932-1933.'

"(5) Ukrainian communities worldwide plan to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide with appropriate observances to pay tribute to the victims of this tragedy."

HR 562 currently has 28 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives: Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Maurice D. Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Dale E. Kildee (D-Mich.), Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.), Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), James R. Langevin (D-R.I.), Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), Thaddeus G. McCotter (R-Mich.), Michael R. McNulty (D-N.Y.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.), Steven R. Rothman (D-N.J.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D-Pa.), Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Anthony D. Weiner (D-N.Y.), Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) and Robert Wexler (D-Fla.).

If all goes well, the memorial should be opened in 2008 as part of the commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide.

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