[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 472 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 472
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the 90th anniversary of the
Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933, known as the Holodomor, should serve as
a reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the people of Ukraine,
and that Vladimir Putin's brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine
once again threatens the existence of the Ukrainian people, while
exacerbating the problems of global hunger.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 27, 2023
Mr. Kaine (for himself and Mr. Wicker) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the 90th anniversary of the
Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933, known as the Holodomor, should serve as
a reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the people of Ukraine,
and that Vladimir Putin's brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine
once again threatens the existence of the Ukrainian people, while
exacerbating the problems of global hunger.
Whereas Russia's illegal, premeditated, unprovoked, and brutal war against
Ukraine--
(1) violates international law;
(2) undermines the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity;
and
(3) includes extensive, systematic, and flagrant atrocities against the
people of Ukraine;
Whereas Vladimir Putin's repeated public rejections of a separate Ukrainian
identity have made the war an existential fight for the Ukrainian
Government and people;
Whereas Moscow's continuing war against Ukraine has weaponized food through
intentional and concerted attacks on the Ukrainian agricultural sector
and energy grid, resulting in elevated global grain prices that
disproportionately impact low- and middle-income countries in the Middle
East, North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, which are
dependent on imported Ukrainian wheat;
Whereas Moscow's weaponization of hunger has further exacerbated an
unprecedented global food crisis, with more than 345,000,000 people
around the world facing acute levels of food insecurity in 2023;
Whereas, on July 17, 2023, Russia unilaterally withdrew from the Black Sea Grain
Initiative, which since its inception in July 2022 resulted in the
export of more than 32,000,000 metric tons of Ukrainian grain, including
grain exports to developing countries vulnerable to food insecurity;
Whereas Putin's attitude towards, and actions in, Ukraine evoke comparisons with
the totalitarian government of the former Soviet Union, which was
responsible for the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933;
Whereas Ukraine is a major global exporter of agricultural products that are
critical to global food supplies, including wheat, corn, barley, and
sunflower;
Whereas Russia's illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory, including the
Crimean peninsula and the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Mariupol, its
assault on Kherson and Odessa, its use of naval mines in the Black Sea
and land mines in Ukraine's agricultural areas, sustained attacks
against Ukraine's energy grid, and the destruction of Ukrainian export
terminals and transportation infrastructure have severely constrained
Ukraine's ability to export grain;
Whereas, Senate Resolution 435, which was passed by the Senate on October 3,
2018, commemorated the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor and recognized
the Soviet Union's role in perpetrating this genocide against the
Ukrainian people;
Whereas 2022-2023 marks the 90th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-
1933, which is also known as the Holodomor;
Whereas in 1932 and 1933, millions of Ukrainian people perished at the will of
the totalitarian Stalinist Government of the Soviet Union, which
perpetrated a premeditated famine in Ukraine in an effort to break the
nation's resistance to collectivization and communist occupation;
Whereas the Government of the Soviet Union deliberately confiscated grain
harvests and starved millions of Ukrainian men, women, and children by a
policy of forced collectivization that sought to destroy the nationally
conscious movement for independence;
Whereas Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin ordered the borders of Ukraine sealed to
prevent anyone from escaping the manmade starvation, and to prevent the
delivery of any international food aid that would provide relief to the
starving;
Whereas numerous scholars worldwide have worked to uncover the scale of the
famine, including Canadian wheat expert Andrew Cairns who 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 Joseph Stalin simultaneously denied food aid to the
people of Ukraine;
Whereas nearly 25 percent of Ukraine's rural population perished or were forced
into exile due to the induced starvation and the entire nation suffered
from the consequences of the prolonged famine;
Whereas noted correspondents of the time were refuted for their courage in
depicting and reporting on the forced famine in Ukraine, including
Gareth Jones, William Henry Chamberlin, and Malcolm Muggeridge, who
wrote ``[The peasants] will tell you that many have already died of
famine, and that many are dying every day; that thousands have been shot
by the Government and hundreds of thousands exiled . . .'';
Whereas title V of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary,
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-180; 99
Stat. 1157), which was enacted on December 13, 1985, established the
Commission on the Ukraine Famine to ``conduct a study of the Ukrainian
Famine of 1932-1933 in order to expand the world's knowledge of the
famine and provide the American public with a better understanding of
the Soviet system by revealing the Soviet role'' in it;
Whereas, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, archival documents became
available that confirmed the deliberate and premeditated deadly nature
of the famine and that exposed the atrocities committed by the Soviet
government against the Ukrainian people;
Whereas Raphael Lemkin, who devoted his life to the development of legal
concepts and norms for containing mass atrocities and whose tireless
advocacy swayed the United Nations in 1948 to adopt the Convention on
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, authored an
essay in 1953 entitled ``Soviet Genocide in the Ukraine'', which
highlighted the ``classic example of Soviet genocide'' characterizing it
``not simply a case of mass murder. It is a case of genocide, of
destruction, not of individuals only, but of a culture and a nation'';
Whereas Ukraine's law Number 376-V, ``Law of Ukraine on the Starvation in
Ukraine of 1932-1933'', which was enacted on November 28, 2006, gave
official recognition to the Holodomor as an act of genocide against the
Ukrainian people;
Whereas, on October 13, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law Public
Law 109-340, which authorized the Government of Ukraine ``to establish a
memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia to honor the
victims of the Ukrainian famine-genocide of 1932-1933'', and the
Holodomor Memorial was officially dedicated in November 2015;
Whereas the Government of Ukraine and the Ukrainian communities in the United
States and worldwide continue their efforts to secure greater
international awareness and understanding of the 1932-1933 tragedy; and
Whereas victims of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 were commemorated by Ukrainian
communities around the globe and in Ukraine throughout November 2022:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) condemns Vladimir Putin's brutal and unprovoked war in
Ukraine and his repeated public rejections of the existence of
a Ukrainian people and a sovereign Ukrainian State;
(2) condemns Vladimir Putin's weaponization of hunger,
which has increased global food prices and food insecurity in
the world;
(3) calls upon Vladimir Putin and the Russian Armed
Forces--
(A) to immediately cease their attacks on Ukrainian
civilians;
(B) to withdraw all troops from Ukraine; and
(C) to fully respect Ukraine's sovereignty,
independence, and territorial integrity;
(4) solemnly remembers the 90th anniversary of the
Holodomor of 1932-1933, and extends its deepest sympathies to
the victims, survivors, and families of this tragedy;
(5) condemns the systematic violations of human rights,
including the freedom of self-determination and freedom of
speech of the Ukrainian people by the Government of the Soviet
Union;
(6) recognizes the findings of the Commission on the
Ukraine Famine, as submitted to Congress on April 22, 1988,
including that ``Joseph Stalin and those around him committed
genocide against the Ukrainians in 1932-1933'';
(7) encourages dissemination of information regarding the
Holodomor of 1932-1933 in order to expand the world's knowledge
of this manmade tragedy; and
(8) supports the continuing efforts of the people of
Ukraine to defend themselves against Russian aggression, to
work toward ensuring democratic principles, a free economy, and
full respect for human rights in order to enable Ukraine to
achieve its full potential in accordance with the desires of
the Ukrainian people and to deepen the partnership between
Ukraine, the United States, and all democratic nations.
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