Model Policy

WHEREAS, the year 2017 marked 100 years since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia resulting in the world’s first communist regime under Vladimir Lenin, which led to decades of oppression and violence under communist regimes throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, based on the philosophy 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 Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Nicolae Ceaușescu, the Castro brothers, and the Kim dynasty; and

WHEREAS, President Donald Trump declared November 7, 2017 a National Day for the Victims of Communism, condemning communism as a political philosophy “incompatible with liberty, prosperity, and the dignity of human life;” and

WHEREAS, the bipartisan U.S. Congressional Caucus for the Victims of Communism stated publicly in 2018 that “Marx’s defenders often say he cannot be held accountable for what communist regimes did long after his life and death; but Marxist dictators who massacred their own people were applying communist ideology to political practice,” and

WHEREAS, communist regimes worldwide have killed more than 100 million people and subjected countless others to the worst and widest-spread human rights abuses known to history, with victims representing many different ethnicities, creeds, and backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, through false promises of equality and liberation, communist regimes have as a matter of government policy robbed their own citizens of the rights of freedom of religion, 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; and

WHEREAS, in addition to violating basic human rights, communist regimes have suppressed freedom of conscience, 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, authorized by unanimous Act of the United States Congress that educates people about the ideology, history, and legacy of communism and honors the people who have suffered and died under communist regimes;

Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED by the legislature of the state of [INSERT STATE], that November 7, in 2018 and in each succeeding year, be designated as Victims of Communism Memorial Day; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the relevant legislative state chamber of [INSERT STATE] transmit a copy of this resolution to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation so that members of the organization may be apprised of the state’s action on this matter; and, be it

RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the relevant state legislative chamber of [INSERT STATE] post the designation of this day on the legislature’s website.