Full Text of SR0878 94th General Assembly
SR0878 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
SR0878 |
|
LRB094 21748 MST 60158 r |
|
| 1 |
| SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, The 50th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution | 3 |
| began on October 23, 1956; the sacrifices of the brave | 4 |
| Hungarian Freedom Fighters and the great contributions of | 5 |
| Hungarian-Americans in Illinois reaffirm the friendship | 6 |
| between the people and governments of the United States and | 7 |
| Hungary; and
| 8 |
| WHEREAS, On October 23, 1956, hundreds of thousands of | 9 |
| Hungarians from all walks of life would join university | 10 |
| students in a peaceful call for democracy and an end to the | 11 |
| brutal and oppressive Soviet-dominated Hungarian communist | 12 |
| government; and
| 13 |
| WHEREAS, Peaceful protestors were fired upon by the | 14 |
| Hungarian Security Police killing hundreds and triggering the | 15 |
| bloody fight for freedom and democracy and causing the first | 16 |
| tear in the Iron Curtain; and
| 17 |
| WHEREAS, The Hungarian Freedom Fighters, students, | 18 |
| workers, men, women and children, who rose up against | 19 |
| impossible odds and risked their lives to take part in their | 20 |
| noble fight for freedom and democracy, were able to establish a | 21 |
| revolutionary government that released political prisoners, | 22 |
| including major church leaders, took steps to establish a | 23 |
| multi-party democracy, called for the withdrawal of all Soviet | 24 |
| troops from Hungary, announced Hungary's withdrawal from the | 25 |
| Warsaw Pact, and requested United Nations assistance in | 26 |
| establishing Hungarian neutrality; and
| 27 |
| WHEREAS, The Soviet Union launched a massive military | 28 |
| counteroffensive against the revolt, sending tens of thousands | 29 |
| of additional troops from the Soviet Union and launched air | 30 |
| strikes, artillery bombardments, and coordinated tank-infantry | 31 |
| actions involving some 6,000 tanks which, remarkably, the |
|
|
|
SR0878 |
- 2 - |
LRB094 21748 MST 60158 r |
|
| 1 |
| outnumbered and under-equipped Hungarian Army and Hungarian | 2 |
| Freedom Fighters resisted for several days; and | 3 |
| WHEREAS, Prime Minister Imre Nagy was seized by Soviet | 4 |
| security forces, despite assurances of safe passage for him to | 5 |
| leave the Yugoslav Embassy in Budapest where he sought asylum, | 6 |
| was taken to Rumania and subsequently tried and executed; and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, Thousands of Hungarians were tortured, tried, and | 8 |
| executed by the post-1956 Hungarian government; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, More than 200,000 Hungarians fled their country in | 10 |
| the aftermath of the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian | 11 |
| uprising, and over 47,000 of these people eventually were able | 12 |
| to settle in the United States where they have contributed | 13 |
| greatly to the intellectual strength, cultural diversity, and | 14 |
| the economic might of this country; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, The uprising of the Hungarian people in 1956 | 16 |
| dramatically confirmed the widespread contempt in which the | 17 |
| Hungarians held the Soviet Union and the underlying weakness of | 18 |
| the communist system imposed by Soviet authorities in Central | 19 |
| and Eastern Europe, as well as the strength of popular support | 20 |
| for democratic principles and the right of the Hungarian people | 21 |
| to determine their own national destiny; and | 22 |
| WHEREAS, The 1956 Hungarian Revolution unmasked the true | 23 |
| nature of the Soviet system, contributing to the disintegration | 24 |
| of communist parties in the West and across the globe; and | 25 |
| WHEREAS, The Hungarians in 1989 dismantled the Iron Curtain | 26 |
| and permitted East Germans safe passage to the West, actions | 27 |
| that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall; and | 28 |
| WHEREAS, On October 23, 1989, the Republic of Hungary | 29 |
| proclaimed its independence, and in 1990 the Hungarian |
|
|
|
SR0878 |
- 3 - |
LRB094 21748 MST 60158 r |
|
| 1 |
| Parliament officially designated October 23 as a Hungarian | 2 |
| national holiday, indicating that the legacy of the 1956 | 3 |
| Revolution continues to inspire Hungarians to this day; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, On March 12, 1999, the Government of Hungary, | 5 |
| reflecting the will of the Hungarian people, acceded to the | 6 |
| North Atlantic Treaty and became a member of NATO and on May 1, | 7 |
| 2004; Hungary then became a full member of the European Union; | 8 |
| therefore, be it
| 9 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL | 10 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, we commend the people of | 11 |
| Hungary as they mark the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian | 12 |
| Revolution which set the stage for the ultimate collapse of | 13 |
| communism in 1989 throughout Central and Eastern Europe, | 14 |
| including Hungary, and two years later in the Soviet Union | 15 |
| itself, and therefore it is fitting and appropriate to proclaim | 16 |
| October 23, 2006, as "Hungarian Freedom Day" with appropriate | 17 |
| ceremonies and activities; and be it further | 18 |
| RESOLVED, That we expresses thanks to the freedom fighters | 19 |
| for their bravery in the face of insurmountable odds, many of | 20 |
| whom sacrificed their lives for freedom, and to those refugees | 21 |
| that brought their talents, skills, and love of freedom and | 22 |
| helped build a stronger America; we express our condolences to | 23 |
| the people of Hungary and the families who lost loved ones in | 24 |
| the fight for Hungarian freedom and independence in 1956 and | 25 |
| those executed by the Soviet and Hungarian communist | 26 |
| authorities in the five years following the Revolution; we | 27 |
| congratulate the American Hungarian Federation, founded in | 28 |
| 1906, which played a key role in the resettlement of Hungarian | 29 |
| refugees and in illuminating the abuses of the post-1956 | 30 |
| Hungarian government, and whose members, many of whom are 1956 | 31 |
| Freedom Fighters, continue to work toward promoting freedom and | 32 |
| democracy, on its centennial anniversary; we reaffirm the | 33 |
| friendship and cooperative relations between the governments |
|
|
|
SR0878 |
- 4 - |
LRB094 21748 MST 60158 r |
|
| 1 |
| of Hungary and the United States and between the Hungarian and | 2 |
| American people; we encourage the Governor to issue a | 3 |
| proclamation calling upon the people of Illinois to observe | 4 |
| "Hungarian Freedom Day" with appropriate ceremonies and | 5 |
| activities; and be it further
| 6 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 7 |
| presented to those who continue to promote freedom and | 8 |
| democracy in Hungary.
|
|