Posted on 04/12/2010 2:10:37 PM PDT by lizol
US senator offers resolution honoring late Polish president
(AFP) – 41 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — A top US senator on Monday proposed a resolution honoring the lives of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and the 94 others killed when their airplane crashed over the weekend.
"Together with the Polish nation and friends of Poland worldwide, I mourn this unbelievably tragic loss," Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said as he introduced the symbolic measure.
The measure marks the "terrible tragedy," honors "the life and legacy" of Kaczynski and of all of the Poles who perished in the crash, including much of Poland's political and military elite.
Lugar's resolution notes that the delegation had been due to attend a ceremony commemorating a 1940 Soviet massacre in the nearby Katyn forest of thousands of Poles captured in World War II.
And it "honors the lives and legacies of the more than 22,000 Polish government officials, military officers, and civilians who were executed by the NKVD 70 years ago, between April and May 1940."
It expresses Washington's "deep sympathy" to surviving relatives of the massacre as well as those who lost loved ones in the mass killing 70 years ago.
Earlier, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell each offered their condolences to Poland.
"The tragedy and loss is unthinkable, and America grieves alongside our friends in Poland," said Reid.
"This is obviously a terrible, terrible tragedy for Poland and a great loss to us as well. Poland is a great friend of the United States, and we send our heartfelt condolences and every expression of solidarity to the Polish people and the families of the dead at this very difficult time,"
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