Resolutions adopted at the Council of National Directors, Polish-American Congress

October 18, 2014 Chicago IL.

Resolution #1: The Security of the Republic of Poland

Whereas, the Russian aggression of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea and threats from Putinʼs Kremlin against the Republic of Poland demonstrate that the current policies of Russian President Putin and the insurgent Russian imperialism become a real and imminent threat to world peace, stability in Eastern and Central Europe and particularly to the existence of the Republic of Poland as a free country, and

Whereas, the Republic of Poland is a member of the NATO alliance, and

Whereas, NATO alliance has no workable contingency plans to effectively aid Poland against an aggression from the East, and

Whereas, Polish President Bronisław Komorowski appealed to the NATO members, particularly Germany, to assist Poland in the extreme necessity of possible Russian military aggression, and

Whereas, Germany refused to participate in creating any NATO military bases on Polish territory, and

Whereas, on September 30, 2014 the German press released information, according to which the German Armed Forces are disorganized and lacking the necessary equipment for sustaining efforts per President Komorowskiʼs request,

Therefore, the National Directors of the Polish American Congress assembled in Chicago on October 17-18, 2014, express their deep concern about the security of Poland. In our opinion it is necessary to establish United States Armed Forces bases on Polish territory. National Directors of PAC appeal to United States Authorities to establish a strong bilateral treaty between the USA and Poland, similar to the accords between the USA and some other countries. We request U. S. President Barack Obama to act on this issue without delay.

Therefore, the Conference of National Directors resolved to authorize the President of the Polish American congress to take immediate action to establish direct contacts with appropriate US Authorities to that end.

Resolution #2: Congressional Hearings on the Smolensk Disaster

Whereas, on April 10th, 2010, the Polish Air Force One, carrying the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and 95 other distinguished high-ranking officials, including the entire Central Command of the Polish Armed Forces, members of the Sejm and state administration, clergy and families of the Katyń victims, crashed at the Severnyl Airfield in Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 people on board, and

Whereas, the Polish Government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk acted to the detriment of Polandʼs vital national interest by allowing to conduct the investigation of the crash by the authorities of the Russian Federation, under Annex 13 to the Chicago Convention, improperly treating Polish Air Force One as a civilian aircraft, thereby depriving the Polish side of any enforcement, oversight and appeal mechanisms, and

Whereas, the Russian investigation produced a report (“MAK Report”) that contains blatant inconsistencies and misrepresentations while demonstrating disregard for facts, data and laws of physics, from which it arrives at dubious conclusions, and

Whereas, the lack of professionalism and poor quality of the Russian investigation has been proven by numerous mistakes in the identification of the victimsʼ bodies transferred to Poland for burial, and

Whereas, the authorities of the Russian Federation endlessly delay, without good cause, transferring to Poland the wreckage of the aircraft and all pertinent evidence, such as flight data recorders and electronic equipment, while mishandling and even purposely destroying the direct evidence, and

Whereas, the Polish authorities accepted the MAK Report without due care, and followed up with their own report (Miller Commission Report) which rubberstamps the MAK Report, and

Whereas, the Polish Government continues to ignore scientific evidence produced by the Parliamentary Committee for the investigation of the Smolensk Crash led by Minister Antoni Macierewicz in cooperation with independent experts from all over the world and investigative journalists, while harassing and even defaming them instead,

Therefore, the Polish American Congress Council of National Directors, assembled in Chicago, Illinois on October 17-18, 2014, resolved that:

1. After four years of investigations and implausible explanations of the causes of the crash, it becomes unlikely that the Governments of the Russian Federation and of the Republic of Poland will ever conduct a professional investigation based on contemporary international standards of aircraft crash investigation that would produce trustworthy and verifiable results;

2. Wearehereb yrequesting that the Congress of the United States of America convene an inquiry and Congressional Hearings to find the truth about the Smolensk Disaster;

3. We are calling on all of North American Polonia to let their Congressional and Parliamentary Representatives in Washington and Ottawa know that their Polish constituents want them to find the truth about the Smolensk Disaster, and persuade them to convene Inquiry and Congressional Hearings in the Smolensk Disaster case;

4. We hereby direct the PAC President to take the lead in this effort by writing to Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to initiate the hearings.

Resolutions Committee:
Frances X. Gates, Chairman
Theresa Bunk
Camille Kopielski