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2018 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 30
Designating November 7, in 2018 and in each succeeding year, as Victims of Communism Memorial Day in Virginia.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 12, 2018
Agreed to by the Senate, March 5, 2018

 

WHEREAS, 2017 marked 100 years since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and the formation of the first communist government under Vladimir Lenin, leading to decades of oppression and violence under communist regimes throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, based on the economic philosophies of Karl Marx, communism has proven incompatible with the ideals of liberty, prosperity, and dignity of human life and has given rise to such infamous totalitarian dictators as Joseph Stalin, Mao Tse-Tung, Ho Chí Minh, and Pol Pot; and

WHEREAS, communist regimes worldwide have killed more than 100 million people and subjected countless others to exploitation and unspeakable atrocities, with victims representing many different ethnicities, creeds, and backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, through false promises of equality and liberation, communist regimes have systematically robbed their own citizens of the rights of freedom of worship, freedom of speech, and freedom of association through coercion, brutality, and fear; and

WHEREAS, many victims of communism were persecuted as political prisoners for speaking out against these regimes, and others were killed in genocidal state-sponsored purges of undesirable groups; and

WHEREAS, in addition to violating basic human rights, communist regimes have suppressed intellectual freedom, cultural life, and self-determination movements in more than 40 nations; and

WHEREAS, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit organization that provides education about the history and legacy of communism and honors the people who have suffered and died under communist regimes; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly designate November 7, in 2018 and in each succeeding year, as Victims of Communism Memorial Day; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit a copy of this resolution to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation so that members of the organization may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter; and, be it

RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates post the designation of this day on the General Assembly's website.