BOISE, Idaho – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and co-chair of the U.S. Senate Poland Caucus, Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), today announced a Senate resolution commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Katyn Massacre. Eighty years after 22,000 Polish soldiers and civilians were executed by Soviet forces, the bipartisan resolution honors their lives and legacy, and recognizes those who fought to tell the truth of the Katyn Massacre despite a Soviet cover-up campaign. The resolution, which also condemns efforts by the present-day Russian government to spread disinformation about the history of World War II, will be formally introduced when the Senate reconvenes.
“On this solemn 80th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre, we honor the 22,000 Polish soldiers and civilians who were murdered by the Soviet Union after Poland was invaded first by Nazi Germany and then by the USSR,” said Risch. “The Russian Federation’s attempts to cover up the truth about this crime and spread disinformation about the massacre and the history of World War II are unacceptable, and I stand with the Polish people in encouraging continued education of the facts of this tragic event.”
“Today I join Polish-Americans in New Jersey and around the country in honoring the 22,000 Polish soldiers and civilians who were murdered by the Soviet Union during the Katyn Massacre,” said Menendez. “The world must remember the truth of this heinous crime to prevent history from repeating itself. The United States stood with the people of Poland in pushing back on Soviet lies about the Katyn Massacre decades ago, and with this effort today we once again stand with them against Vladimir Putin’s ongoing campaign to distort the history of World War II.”
“Ten years ago, I was honored to lead a resolution that unanimously passed the Senate expressing sympathy to the people of Poland over the death of then President, Lech Kaczynski. President Kaczynski’s plane tragically crashed while traveling to Katyn, Russia, for a memorial service marking the massacre’s 70th anniversary,” said Durbin. “Today I am similarly honored to join with my colleagues, Senators Menendez and Risch, to express deepest sympathies and solidarity with the Polish people and Polish-American community, so many of whom call the Chicago area home, on this somber anniversary of those tragic events in Katyn.”
A copy of the resolution can be found here.
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