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Public
Affairs
On July 22nd, 2005, the House of Representatives
unanimously passed a resolution urging Russia to recognize that the the
Soviet occupation of the Baltic states was illegal. The Senate had passed
the resolution in May. It was introduced in the House by Lithuanian
Congressman John Shimkus of Illinois.
Lithuanian-Americans are pleased that their phone calls, visits and other
kinds of lobbying helped persuade 29 members of Congress to add their
names to the list of co-sponsors for the resolution. California's
Lithuanians and their organizations, including ALT,
BAFL and others, played
a key role in securing adoption of the resolution. Thus it should come as
no surprise that of the 29 co-sponsors of the resolution, 12 hail from
California.
Members of Congress from California who co-sponsored
the bill: Xavier Becerra, Howard L. Berman, Mary Bono, Christopher Cox,
David Dreier,Darrell Issa, Grace Napolitano, Dana Rohrabacher, Edward R.
Royce,Loretta Sanchez, Adam B. Schiff, Henry A. Waxman.
The resolution notes that the occupation of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
was a violation of their sovereignty, that it was aconsequence of the
Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and marked the start of mass deportations and
killings, that citizens of the Baltic states resisted the occupation by
force, and, later, by political means, and that Russia, as the successor
state of the USSR, should recognize and condemn the occupation as illegal.
John Shimkus, sponsor of the resolution, suggested to his
colleagues that by recognizing the mistakes of the past Russia would be
stronger as a democracy, because democracy and freedom require
truthfulness. The Russian government takes a different view: that same
week Russia's deputy foreign minister Vladimir Chizhov claimed that
theannexation of the Baltic states by the USSR was legal.
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Galerija
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