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United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C., Tuesday, October 21, 2003
The U.S. House of Representatives on 20 October adopted the
following H. RES. 356 "Expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives regarding the man-made famine that occurred in
Ukraine in 1932-1933" by a vote of 382 - 0. The resolution was
introduced by Henry Hyde (R-IL), Chairman of the House International
Relations Committee (with Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Helsinki
Commission Chairman and Tom Lantos (D-CA), Ranking Member,
House International Relations Committee as original cosponsors.
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Congressional Record Statement for The Honorable Christopher H. Smith
on H.Res.356, Regarding the man-made famine that occurred in Ukraine
1932-33:
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Mr.Speaker, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of H.Res.
356. I thank and commend Mr. Hyde for introducing this resolution
commemorating and honoring the memory of victims of an abominable act
perpetrated against the people of Ukraine in 1932-33. Seventy years ago,
millions of men, women and children were murdered by starvation so that
one man, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, could consolidate control over
Ukraine. The Ukrainian people resisted the Soviet policy of forced
collectivization. The innocent died a horrific death at the hands of a
tyrannical dictatorship which had crushed their freedom.
In an attempt to break the spirit of an independent-minded
Ukrainian peasantry, and ultimately to secure collectivization, Stalin
ordered the expropriation of all foodstuffs in the hands of the rural
population. The grain was shipped to other areas of the Soviet Union or
sold on the international market. Peasants who refused to turn over grain
to the state were deported or executed. Without food or grain, mass
starvation ensued. This manmade famine was the consequence of deliberate
policies which aimed to destroy the political, cultural and human rights of
the Ukrainian people.
In short, food was used as a weapon in what can only be described
as an organized act of terrorism designed to suppress a people's love of
their land and the basic liberty to live as they choose.
Mr. Chairman, I recall back in the 1980s seeing the unforgettable
movie, Harvest of Despair, which depicted the horrors of the Famine,
as well as the fine work of the congressionally-created Ukraine Famine
Commission, which issued its seminal report in 1988. Their work helped
expose the truth about this horrific event.
I am pleased that the resolution notes that there were those in the
West, including The New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty,
who knowingly and deliberately falsified their reports to cover up the
Famine because they wanted to curry favor with one of the most evil
regimes in the history of mankind.
The fact that this denial of the Famine took place then, and even
much later by many scholars in the West is a shameful chapter in our
own history.
Mr. Chairman, this is an important resolution which will help give
recognition to one of the most horrific events in the last century in the
hopes that mass-murders of this kind truly become unthinkable.
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TEXT OF RESOLUTION:
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Whereas 2003 marks the 70th anniversary of the height of the famine
in Ukraine that was deliberately initiated and enforced by the Soviet
regime through the seizure of grain and the blockade of food
shipments into the affected areas, as well as by forcibly preventing
the starving population from leaving the region, for the purposes of
eliminating resistance to the forced collectivization of agriculture
and destroying Ukraine's national identity;
Whereas this man-made famine resulted in the deaths of at least
5,000,000 men, women, and children in Ukraine and an estimated 1-2
million people in other regions;
Whereas the famine took place in the most productive agricultural area
of the former Soviet Union while foodstocks throughout the country
remained sufficient to prevent the famine and while the Soviet regime
continued to export large quantities of grain;
Whereas many Western observers with first-hand knowledge of the
famine, including The New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty,
who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for his reporting from the
Soviet Union, knowingly and deliberately falsified their reports to cover
up and refute evidence of the famine in order to suppress criticism of the
Soviet regime;
Whereas Western observers and scholars who reported accurately on the
existence of the famine were subjected to disparagement and criticism
in the West for their reporting of the famine;
Whereas the Soviet regime and many scholars in the West continued to
deny the existence of the famine until the collapse of the Soviet regime in
1991 resulted in many of its archives being made accessible, thereby
making possible the documentation of the premeditated nature of the
famine and its harsh enforcement;
Whereas the final report of the United States Government's Commission
on the Ukraine Famine, established on December 13, 1985, concluded
that the victims were `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, although the Ukraine famine was one of the greatest losses
of human life in the 20th century, it remains insufficiently known in
the United States and in the world: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives
that--
(1) the millions of victims of the man-made famine that occurred
in Ukraine in 1932-1933 should be solemnly remembered and honored
in the 70th year marking the height of the famine;
(2) this man-made famine was designed and implemented by the
Soviet regime as a deliberate act of terror and mass murder against the
Ukrainian people;
(3) the decision of the Government of Ukraine and the Verkhovna
Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) to give official recognition to the famine
and its victims, as well as their efforts to secure greater international
awareness and understanding of the famine, should be supported; and
(4) the official recognition of the famine by the Government of
Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada represents a significant step in the
reestablishment of Ukraine's national identity, the elimination of the
legacy of the Soviet dictatorship, and the advancement of efforts to
establish a democratic and free Ukraine that is fully integrated into the
Western community of nations.
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS) thanks Orest
Deychakiwsky of the U.S. Helsinki Commission for providing a copy
of the resolution passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
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