Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) made the following remarks on H.Res. 1246, a resolution expressing sympathy for the people of Poland for the deaths of President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and other Polish government officials last Saturday in a plane crash in Smolensk, Russia.
“Madam Speaker: I rise in strong support of the resolution expressing the sympathy of the United States for the people of Poland in the aftermath of the tragic plane crash that killed the country’s President, and the First Lady and 94 other Poles. My thoughts and prayers are with the Polish people at this time.
“As an American of Polish descent - proud of my heritage - I grieve at this loss and at what a sad time it occurs; when the Poles were going to Smolensk, Russia to commemorate the killing of 20,000 Polish officers and members of the intelligentsia under the direct orders of the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. And I am grieving about the situation in Poland, but I am proud that the Polish people have established a democracy, which is not only a friend of the United States, but which is able to survive these difficult times and maintain not only its friendship for America but its leadership in the world and its superb work in maintaining a democracy for which the Poles have yearned so long.”
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