HCR128JUL29

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending July 29, 2005

H.CON.RES.128 Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of the Russian Federation should issue a clear and unambiguous statement of admission and condemnation of the illegal occupation and annexation by the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991 of the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

BRIEF

Soviet Union freed several of the Baltic States at the end of WWII but didn’t leave. Years of occupation ensued causing the occupied countries to live under freedom constricting and often brutal Soviet Communism.

When the Soviet Union went broke in the 1990’s and fell apart it eventually removed most of its troops from those states (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia). Some troops remain as does the Russian influence on the politics and economics of those countries but all now are self governing and doing pretty well.

The Resolution preamble, mirroring President Bush’s comments of questionable diplomacy a few months ago, says that Russia should now apologize to those countries for the occupation and alleged crimes against the Baltic people.

The Resolution preamble says that Russia carried out the occupation through a clandestine agreement with Nazi Germany called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. Ultimately Germany denounced the 1939 Pact and in 1989 Russia voided it. The difference is that Germany apologized for the havoc created by the Nazis but Russia did not.

It is at this point that the Resolution’s author, Rep. John Shimkus takes a holistic healing bent in his proposal. According to Rep Shimkus, Russia must now fully apologize for the behavior of its forerunner government for this purpose: “…countries that cannot clearly admit their historical mistakes and make peace with their pasts cannot successfully build their futures”.

On that conclusion the Resolution calls for Russia to condemn its past behavior and apologize and spread goodwill as a result.

Sponsor: Representative John Shimkus (R-IL-19^th)

Vote: Passed House by unanimous consent (July 22, 2005)

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost.

MORE INFORMATION

H. Con. Res. 128

Whereas the incorporation in 1940 of the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the Soviet Union was an act of aggression carried out against the will of sovereign people;

Whereas the United States was steadfast in its policy of not recognizing the illegal Soviet annexation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania;

Whereas the Russian Federation is the successor state to the Soviet Union;

Whereas the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, including its secret protocols, between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union provided the Soviet Union with the opportunity to occupy and annex Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania;

Whereas the occupation brought countless suffering to the Baltic peoples through terror, killings, and deportations to Siberian concentration camps;

Whereas the peoples of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania bravely resisted Soviet aggression first through armed resistance movements and later through political resistance movements;

Whereas the Government of Germany renounced its participation in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 and publicly apologized for the destruction and terror that Nazi Germany unleashed on the world;

Whereas, in 1989, the Congress of Peoples' Deputies of the Soviet Union declared the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 void; { Whereas in 1989, the Congress of Peoples' Deputies of the Soviet Union denounced the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 and its secret protocols; }

Whereas the illegal occupation and annexation of the Baltic countries is one of the largest remaining unacknowledged incidents of oppression in Russian history; { Whereas the illegal occupation and annexation of the Baltic countries by the Soviet Union remains unacknowledged by the Russian Federation;}

Whereas a declaration of acknowledgment of such incident by the Russian Federation would lead to improved relations between the people of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and the people of Russia, would form the basis for improved relations between the governments of the countries, and strengthen stability in the region;

Whereas the Russian Federation is to be commended for beginning to acknowledge grievous and regrettable incidents in their history, such as admitting complicity in the massacre of Polish soldiers in the Katyn Forest in 1939;

Whereas the truth is a powerful weapon for healing, forgiving, and reconciliation, but its absence breeds distrust, fear, and hostility; and

Whereas countries that cannot clearly admit their historical mistakes and make peace with their pasts cannot successfully build their futures: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that the Government of the Russian Federation should issue a clear and unambiguous statement of admission and condemnation of the illegal occupation and annexation by the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991 of the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the consequence of which will be a significant increase in good will among the affected peoples and enhanced regional stability.

The concurrent resolution was agreed to.

No reproduction or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.