U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar made the following statement for today’s Congressional Record as he introduced a resolution Honoring the lives of President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and 94 others who perished on April 10, 2010, in a plane crash while en route to memorialize those Polish officers, officials, and civilians who were massacred by the Soviet Union 70 years ago.
STATEMENT BY SENATOR LUGAR ON THE DEATH OF POLISH PRESIDENT LECH KACZYNSKI AND OTHER OFFICIALS IN WESTERN RUSSIA
Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I rise to honor the lives of President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and 94 others who perished in a plane crash on April 10, 2010. President Kaczynski was a steadfast supporter of advancing freedom and prosperity in Poland and throughout Central and Eastern Europe and was a close friend of the United States. It is with tragic irony that this devastation has occurred at a time of solemn remembrance of the massacre of Polish officers and civilians in the Katyn Forest and elsewhere 70 years ago. Together with the Polish nation and friends of Poland worldwide, I mourn this unbelievably tragic loss. With these sentiments in mind, I am introducing this resolution honoring the lives of President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and 94 others who perished on April 10, 2010 in a plane crash while en route to memorialize those Polish officers, officials, and civilians who were massacred by the Soviet Union 70 years ago.
The resolution reads:
111TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION S. RES. Tba
Honoring the lives of President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and 94 others who perished on April 10, 2010, in a plane crash while en route to memorialize those Polish officers, officials, and civilians who were massacred by the Soviet Union 70 years ago.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
Mr. LUGAR submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on .
RESOLUTION
Honoring the lives of President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and 94 others who perished on April 10, 2010, in a plane crash while en route to memorialize those Polish officers, officials, and civilians who were massacred by the Soviet Union 70 years ago.
Whereas, on April 10, 2010, the President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and a cadre of current and former Polish statesmen, family members, and others departed Warsaw by plane to the Russian region of Smolensk;
Whereas the purpose of the delegation’s visit was to hold a ceremony in solemn remembrance of the more than 22,000 Polish military officers, police officers, judges, other government officials, and civilians who were executed by the Soviet secret police, the NKVD, 70 years ago, between April 3 and the end of May 1940;
Whereas more than 14,500 Polish victims have been documented at 3 sites in Katyn (in present day Belarus), in Miednoye (in present day Russia), and in Kharkiv (in present day Ukraine), while the remains of an estimated 7,000 Polish victims have yet to be precisely located;
Whereas the Soviet Union failed to acknowledge responsibility for the massacres until President Mikhail Gorbachev’s statement on April 13, 1990;
Whereas, on April 7, 2010, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin became the first Russian or Soviet leader to join Polish officials in commemorating the anniversary of the murders;
Whereas the plane carrying the Polish delegation on April 10, 2010, crashed in Smolensk, tragically killing all 96 persons on board, including President Kaczynski, his wife, and other current and former Polish statesmen;
Whereas President Kaczynski was a steadfast proponent of consolidating freedom and prosperity in Poland and advancing them throughout Central and Eastern Europe and was a close friend of the United States of America; and
Whereas the deep friendship between the Governments and people of Poland and the United States is grounded in our mutual respect, shared values, and common priorities on nuclear nonproliferation, counterterrorism, human rights, regional cooperation in Eastern Europe, democratization, and international development: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) recognizes the terrible tragedy that tookplace on April 10, 2010, when an aircraft carrying a delegation of current and former Polish officials, family members, and others crashed en route from Warsaw to Smolensk to memorialize the 1940 massacres, killing all 96 passengers;
(2) honors the life and legacy of the late President of Poland Lech Kaczynski and the lives and legacies of all Poles who perished in the plane crash on April 10, 2010;
(3) honors the lives and legacies of the more than 22,000 Polish government officials, military officers, and civilians who were executed by the NKVD70 years ago, between April and May 1940;
(4) expresses deep sympathy for the surviving family members of those who perished at the hands of the NKVD in 1940 and for the surviving family members of those who perished in the tragic plane crash of April 10, 2010;
(5) supports the people of Poland as they restore leadership in the institutions of the Government of Poland that were impacted by the crash of April 10, 2010; and
(6) requests that the Secretary of the Senate transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the Ambassador of Poland to the United States.
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