Polish American Congress Resolutions approved by the plenary session

RESOLUTIONS APPROVED BY THE PLENARY SESSION

• Resolution on Immigration Reform
• Resolution on renaming of Auschwitz Concentration Camp
• Resolution on Recognizing Soviet Genocide Against Poland
• Resolution on Human Rights Abuses Against Poles in Belarus
• Resolution on Lustration
• Resolution on Polish Studies Programs
• Resolution of Thanks to Polish Diplomatic Missions

RESOLUTION COMMITTEE

Thaddeus Mirecki, Chair
Ryszard Ciskowski
Barbara Ilnicka
Camille Kopielski
Jerzy Rozalski
Stanislaw Sliwowski
Rev Carl Urban



RESOLUTION ON IMMIGRATION REFORM

WHEREAS the Polish American Congress realizes the necessity of legislation to make US borders more secure; and

WHEREAS we recognize the need to respect the internationally recognized human rights of all immigrants in this country in a fashion which acknowledges the difference between those who entered this country legally but whose status changed for whatever reason, including the difficulty of complying with often conflicting bureaucratic regulations, and those who entered this country illegally;

Now therefore, be it resolved that the Polish American Congress strongly urges the Congress of the United States, in passing a Comprehensive Immigration Reform law, not to criminalize immigrants, and to include the elimination of the requirement for tourist visas for Polish citizens, who are numbered among the strongest allies of the US.

Addressed to:

    Sen. Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
    509 Hart Senate Office Building
    Washington DC 20510

    Sen. Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader
    528 Hart Senate Office Building
    Washington DC 20510

    Hon. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives
    235 Cannon House Office Building
    Washington, DC 20515

    Hon. Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader
    2371 Rayburn House Office Building
    Washington, DC 20515



RESOLUTION ON RENAMING OF AUSCHWITZ CONCENTRATION CAMP

WHEREAS, during World War II, concentration and death camps on Polish territory were conceived, constructed and operated by the German Nazi occupiers of the Polish Nation; and

WHEREAS, the mass media continue to often misidentify these camps as “Polish death camps”; and

WHEREAS, such misinformation is deeply hurtful to all survivors, their descendants, and all Polish people, both Jewish and Christian, who suffered at the hands of the Nazis more than any other occupied nation; and

WHEREAS, the passing from the scene of the generation of Holocaust eye­witnesses makes it imperative to leave an accurate historical record in order to combat Holocaust denial;

Now therefore, be it resolved, that the Polish American Congress supports the appeal of the Polish Government to UNESCO to change the official name of the largest death camp complex to “Former German Nazi Concentration Camp Auschwitz/Birkenau”, and hereby also appeals to UNESCO to implement this change as requested by the Polish Government.

To be sent to:
Koichiro Matsuura,
Director-General, UNESCO
7, place de Fontenoy,
75352 Paris 07 SP
France

Copies:
H.E. Lech Kaczynski,
President of the Republic of Poland
Pałac Prezydencki
Krakowskie Przedmieście 48/50
00-071 Warszawa
Poland

Hon. Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz,
Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland
Kancelaria Prezesa Rady Ministrów
Al. Ujazdowskie 1/3
00-583 Warszawa
Poland

Hon. Anna Fotyga,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych
Al. J. Ch. Szucha 23
00-580 Warszawa
Poland

Hon. Michal Ujazdowski,
Minister of Culture
and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland
Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego
ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 15/17
00-071 Warszawa
Poland

Mr. Avner Shalev, Chairman
Yad Vashem
The Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority
P.O.B. 3477
Jerusalem 91034
Israel

Mr. Edgar M. Bronfman, President
World Jewish Congress
PO Box 90400
Washington, DC 20090
Mr. E. Robert Goodkind, President
The American Jewish Committee
P.O. Box 705
New York, NY 10150



RESOLUTION ON RECOGNIZING SOVIET GENOCIDE AGAINST POLAND

WHEREAS, the Chief Military Prosecutor of the Russian Federation in April 2005 issued a declaration which denies that the Katyn Forest Massacre and other mass executions of 1940 were acts of genocide; and

WHEREAS the Military Prosecution Office of the Russian Federation refuses to grant access to any and all documents related to Katyn Forest Massacre and other acts of genocide against the Polish Nation during World War 2; and

WHEREAS the Select Committee to Conduct an Inverstigation and Study of the Facts, Evidence and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre of the United States House of Representatives, in Report No. 2505 dated December 22, 1952, stated “This committee unanimously finds, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the Soviet NKVD committed the mass murders of the Polish officers and intellectual leaders in the Katyn Forest”; and

WHEREAS Polish individuals who have lost family members in Katyn and other places of genocide have lodged a complaint against Russia to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg;

Now therefore, be it resolved that the Polish American Congress strongly protests the continuation by the Russian Federation of the policies of Soviet Union in this matter, and appeals to the Government of the United States and to the European Court of Human Rights, to declare these actions of the Soviet Union, of which the Russian Federation is the successor state, to be acts of genocide.

Addressed to:
Hon. Condoleeza Rice,
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

H.E. Yuri V. Ushakov,
Ambassador
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2650 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20007

Mr. Luzius Wildhaber,
President
European Court of Human Rights
Council of Europe
67075 Strasbourg-Cedex
France



RESOLUTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AGAINST POLES IN BELARUS

WHEREAS during the recent presidential election in Belarus there have been numerous violations of human rights and persecution of leaders and members of the Polish ethnic minority; and

WHEREAS the Belarus authorities deny the legality of the election of the leadership of the Alliance of Poles in Belarus; and

WHEREAS Andzelika Borys, the president of Alliance of Poles in Belarus, and other leaders of the ethnic Polish community in Belarus have been persecuted and imprisoned;

Now therefore be it resolved that the Polish American Congress appeals to the United States Department of State to use all diplomatic means to resolve this situation and safeguard the human rights of the Polish ethnic minority in Belarus.

Addressed to:
Hon. Condoleeza Rice,
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

H.E. Mikhail Khvostov,
Ambassador
Embassy of the Republic of Belarus
1619 New Hampshire Avenue., N.W.
Washington, DC 20009



RESOLUTION ON LUSTRATION

WHEREAS, several individual members have appealed to the National Office to require lustration of persons in leadership positions of the Polish American Congress; and

WHEREAS current Polish law allows for the release of lustration documents only  to the individual requesting such documents for themselves; and

WHEREAS at the Council of National Directors on May 12, PAC Vice President for Polish Affairs Ludwik Wnekowicz presented information on the world-wide aspects of discovering infiltration of Polonia by agents of the Communist government of the Polish People’s Republic;

Now therefore, be it resolved that the Council of National Directors of the Polish American Congress strongly urges all persons in leadership positions in the PAC at the National, State Division or Member organization level, who hold or have held postwar Polish citizenship, to apply to the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) for disclosure of documents relating to their involvement with the Security Services of the Polish People’s Republic.

Addressed to:
    All PAC State Divisions
    Leadership of PAC Member Organizations



RESOLUTION ON POLISH STUDIES PROGRAMS

WHEREAS, the Polish American Congress desires to encourage the participation by youth in the PAC and in the Polish Community at large;

WHEREAS, many institutions of higher education in the United States are beginning or continuing courses of Polish Studies encompassing Polish language, literature, history; and

WHEREAS, the American Affairs Committee of the Polish American Congress reported at a Council of National Directors that there are serious errors in the information about Poland in media, books, and especially in materials used in Polish studies courses at institutions of higher education; and

Now therefore, be it resolved that it shall be the policy of the Polish American Congress to encourage and support the founding of, and maintaining the accuracy of information in, programs of Polish Studies at American universities.

Addressed to: Council of National Directors of PAC



RESOLUTION OF THANKS TO POLISH DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS

WHEREAS, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago, and all diplomatic missions of the Republic of Poland in the United States, under their current leadership have extended assistance and cooperation to the Polish American Congress in pursuing our common goals of assisting Poland, Poles and Polish-Americans, and

WHEREAS, H.E. Janusz Reiter, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland honored the PAC Council of National Directors on May 12, 2006, by appearing before this body with an excellent presentation of the issues facing Poland and Polonia today; and

WHEREAS, the Ambassador and the Hon. Jarosław Łasiński, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago, generously hosted a reception for the Council of National Directors on May 11, 2006;

Now therefore, BE IT RESOLVED that the Polish American Congress expresses its gratitude and deep appreciation for these courtesies and for the assistance and cooperation in the past, and expresses its hope that such fruitful cooperation shall continue into the future to the benefit of both Poland and the United States.

Addressed to:
H.E. Janusz Reiter,
Ambassador
Embassy of the Republic of Poland
2640 Sixteenth St. NW
Washington, DC 20009

Hon. Jarosław Łasinski,
Consul General
Consulate General of the Republic of Poland
1530 N. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60610