,,iii #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 ,,res4 #eff ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,may #g1 #bjbj,mr4 ,menendez 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,risch1 and ,mr4 ,durbin7 submitted the following resolution2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations ,,resolution ,commemorating the #hjth ,anniversary of the ,katyn ,massacre4 ,whereas1 on ,august #bc1 #aici1 ,nazi ,germany and the ,soviet ,union secretly pledged nonaggression toward one another through the ,molotov-,ribbentrop ,pact1 in which they divided ,poland between themselves2 ,whereas ,nazi ,germany invaded ,poland from the west on ,september #a1 #aici1 and the ,soviet ,union invaded ,poland from the east on ,september #ag1 #aici2 ,whereas over #fj1jjj ,polish soldiers died in combat defending ,poland from these invasions2 ,whereas1 after the ,red ,army invaded ,poland1 it captured thousands of ,polish military personnel and civilians1 many of whom had fled east from the ,nazi invasion2 ,whereas the ,soviet ,people's ,commissariat for ,internal ,affairs1 or ,,nkvd1 took charge of the ,polish prisoners from the ,red ,army and transferred them to the ,kozelsk1 ,starobilsk1 and ,ostashkov internment camps in the western ,soviet ,union1 where many were subject to lengthy interrogations2 ,whereas1 on ,march #e1 #aidj1 ,soviet ,general ,secretary ,josef ,stalin and three ,soviet ,politburo members signed an ,,nkvd order to execute nearly #bb1jjj prisoners by shooting that also identified more than #aj1jjj additional ,polish prisoners for possible execution2 ,whereas1 in ,april and ,may #aidj1 the ,,nkvd summarily executed the condemned ,polish prisoners at several sites in the ,soviet ,union1 including at the ,katyn ,forest west of ,smolensk in the ,russian ,soviet ,federative ,socialist ,republic1 and buried them in mass graves2 ,whereas1 in ,april #aidc1 occupying ,nazi troops discovered eight mass graves in the ,katyn ,forest with the remains of many of those ,polish prisoners2 ,whereas1 following this discovery in the ,katyn ,forest1 the mass executions by the ,soviets of the ,polish prisoners from all three camps became known as the ,katyn ,massacre2 ,whereas the #ba1hib victims of the ,katyn ,massacre included military officers1 chaplains1 professors1 doctors1 lawyers1 engineers1 teachers1 journalists1 and refugees1 many of whom were military reservists who had been mobilized as a result of the ,nazi invasion2 ,whereas between #gjj and #ijj ,polish ,jews were killed in the ,katyn ,massacre2 ,whereas the ,soviet ,union falsely blamed ,nazi ,germany for the massacre and broke off diplomatic relations with the ,polish government-in-exile following a request by the government-in-exile that the ,international ,committee of the ,red ,cross examine the ,katyn mass graves2 ,whereas an international medical commission excavated the area in ,spring #aidc and determined that the massacre occurred in #aidj1 when the area was under ,soviet control2 ,whereas the ,soviet ,union continued to deny responsibility for the ,katyn ,massacre1 blaming the ,nazis and concealing evidence of its guilt1 for nearly #ej years2 ,whereas1 on ,september #ah1 #aiea1 the ,united ,states ,house of ,representatives established the ,select ,committee to ,conduct an ,investigation and ,study of the ,facts1 ,evidence1 and ,circumstances of the ,katyn ,forest ,massacre1 which is referred to as the ,madden ,committee2 ,whereas1 after reviewing witness testimony and relevant documents1 the ,madden ,committee unanimously found that the ,,nkvd1 and thus the ,soviet ,union1 was responsible for the executions and recommended a trial before the ,international ,world ,court of ,justice2 ,whereas scholars in the ,united ,states and ,united ,kingdom published books and articles demonstrating the truth of the ,katyn ,massacre during the decades of ,soviet denial2 ,whereas1 in ,poland in #aiha1 the ,solidarity movement erected a memorial with the inscription ,katyn1 #aidj that the ,communist government removed and replaced with a memorial falsely blaming the ,nazis for the massacre2 ,whereas1 in #aihh1 demonstrators marched in ,warsaw to demand an official inquiry into the ,katyn ,massacre2 ,whereas1 on ,april #ac1 #aiij1 #ej years after the executions of the ,polish prisoners and #dg years since the day the discovery of the mass graves was announced1 the ,soviet government issued a statement accepting responsibility for the ,katyn ,massacre and calling it one of the most heinous crimes of ,stalinism2 ,whereas on that day ,soviet ,president ,mikhail ,gorbachev gave the ,government of ,poland copies of ,soviet archival materials pertaining to the executed prisoners that confirmed ,soviet responsibility for the massacre2 ,whereas1 in recent months1 ,president ,vladimir ,putin and other ,russian officials have attempted to propagate a false narrative that ,poland was responsible for the outbreak of ,world ,war ,,ii1 ignoring the facts of the ,molotov-,ribbentrop ,pact and the coordinated ,nazi and ,soviet invasions of ,poland2 ,whereas1 in ,october #bjai1 ,russian officials ordered the removal of a plaque at a former regional ,,nkvd headquarters in ,tver commemorating the estimated #f1jjj ,poles murdered in the building as part of the ,katyn ,massacre2 ,whereas ,president ,putin and the ,government of the ,russian ,federation use these historical revisionist narratives1 including false accusations about ,polish responsibility for ,world ,war ,,ii1 as a tool in their attempt to whitewash ,soviet history1 elevate ,russia's international position1 and sow political discord among its neighbors and adversaries2 ,whereas the ,katyn ,massacre fits into a larger pattern of ,communist governments around the world persecuting their citizens and denying their people freedom1 which has resulted in the deaths of up to #ajj1jjj1jjj people since the ,russian ,revolution of #aiag2 and ,whereas the year #bjbj marks the #hjth anniversary of the ,katyn ,massacre3 ,now1 therefore1 be it ,that the ,senate-- 7#a7 honors the lives and legacies of the approximately #bb1jjj ,polish soldiers and civilians who were murdered by the ,soviet ,people's ,commissariat for ,internal ,affairs1 or ,,nkvd1 during the ,katyn ,massacre #hj years ago2 7#b7 recognizes the witnesses1 scholars1 activists1 and demonstrators who fought to bring the truth of the ,katyn ,massacre to light in the face of the cover-up campaign orchestrated by the ,soviet ,union2 7#c7 condemns both past and present attempts to cover up truth of the ,katyn ,massacre2 7#d7 condemns broader efforts by the ,government of the ,russian ,federation to spread disinformation about the history of ,world ,war ,,ii2 and 7#e7 encourages education about the facts of the ,katyn ,massacre1 including the horrors of the massacre itself and subsequent attempts to deny it or cover it up4