PRINTER'S NO.  1895

  

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

  

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

No.

322

Session of

2010

  

  

INTRODUCED BY STACK, STOUT, FARNESE, WARD, ARGALL, ALLOWAY, GREENLEAF, TARTAGLIONE, ERICKSON, FONTANA, RAFFERTY AND ORIE, APRIL 21, 2010

  

  

INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, APRIL 21, 2010  

  

  

  

A RESOLUTION

  

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Expressing sympathy for the people of Poland in the aftermath of

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the devastating plane crash that killed the country's

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President, First Lady and 94 other high-ranking government,

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military and civic leaders on April 10, 2010.

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WHEREAS, The United States and Poland share a bond of

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history, friendship and international cooperation; and

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WHEREAS, Polish immigrants were among the first Jamestown

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settlers and Polish Generals, Casimir Pulaski and Thaddeus

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Kosciuszko, fought for America's Independence in the

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Revolutionary War; and

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WHEREAS, Millions of Americans of Polish descent now reside

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in the United States, and more than two million reside in  this

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Commonwealth, bringing vitality and history to this

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Commonwealth, from the traditional Polish neighborhoods of

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Philadelphia, to the northeast coal region, to the western steel

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towns; and

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WHEREAS, Polish Americans have been leaders in all walks of

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American life; and

 


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WHEREAS, The American people stood in support of the

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Solidarity movement as it fought against the oppression of the

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Polish communist government through peaceful means, eventually

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leading to Solidarity members being elected to office in open

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democratic elections held on June 4, 1989, events that helped

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spark the movement to democracy throughout eastern Europe; and

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WHEREAS, Poland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

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(NATO) in 1999, joined the European Union in 2004, and

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contributed to United States and NATO operations in Iraq and

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Afghanistan; and

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WHEREAS, Poland has enjoyed a thriving and prosperous free

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market democracy since the end of the Cold War; and

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WHEREAS, The Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other

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people, including Poland's First Lady, the deputy foreign

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minister, dozens of members of Parliament, the chiefs of the

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armed forces and the president of the national bank, were

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tragically killed in a plane crash in western Russia on April

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10, 2010; and

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WHEREAS, President Kaczynski and his colleagues were

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traveling to Katyn, Russia, for a memorial service to mark the

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70th anniversary of the Soviet secret police killing of more

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than 20,000 Polish officers, prisoners and intellectuals who

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were captured after the Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939; and

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WHEREAS, Also killed in the crash were Anna Walentynowicz,

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the former dock worker whose firing in 1980 sparked the

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Solidarity strike that ultimately overthrew the Polish communist

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government, and Ryszard Kaczorowski, who served as Poland's

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final president in exile before the country's return to

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democracy; and

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WHEREAS, President Barack Obama said, the "loss is

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devastating to Poland, to the United States, and to the world.

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President Kaczynski was a distinguished statesman, who played a

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key role in the Solidarity movement, and he was widely admired

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in the United States as a leader dedicated to advancing freedom

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and human dignity"; therefore be it

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RESOLVED, That the Senate of Pennsylvania express its deepest

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sympathies to the people of Poland and the families of those who

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perished for their profound loss.

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