WHEREAS, it is essential that the next generation of Americans be educated about the ideology, history, and horrors of communism so our Citizens understand why the United States is the freest Nation in the world and that rejecting this ideology will keep freedom alive; and,

WHEREAS, in order for communism to flourish in a country, it requires taking away basic human rights which we hold so dear, including the rights to life, liberty, privacy, and freedom; and,

WHEREAS, history has shown us that in order to stay in power, communist countries have attempted to maintain a totalitarian government using psychological approaches as implements of repression and social control; and,

WHEREAS, this year marks the 105^th year since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, resulting in the world’s first communist regime under Vladimir Lenin; and,

WHEREAS, for decades, wherever communism has been adopted under the false pretense of liberation, it has delivered anguish, failure, and death while systematically robbing innocent people of their God-given rights of free worship, freedom of association, and countless other rights we hold sacrosanct; and,

WHEREAS, over the past century, communist totalitarian regimes around the world have killed more than 100 million people and subjected countless more to exploitation, repression, violence, and untold devastation; and,

WHEREAS, victims were shot to death in the Bolshevik Revolution; starved in the Ukrainian Holodomor and China’s Great Leap Forward; worked to death in the Soviet gulag; exiled to Siberia in the Baltic Deportations; executed on Cuba’s Isle of Pines; beaten to death in the Cultural Revolution; drowned fleeing Vietnam; strewn as litter on Cambodia’s desolate Killing Fields; and,

WHEREAS, citizens yearning for freedom were subjugated by communist regimes through the use of coercion, violence, and fear while totalitarianism and its many injustices have wrought misery and held captive the dreams of generations, compared to nations that value liberty have prospered and empowered their citizens to pursue their God-given potential to the fullest; and,

WHEREAS, as a Commonwealth and as a nation, we honor the memory of the millions who died and the more than one fifth of the world’s population still suffering under communism, the indomitable spirit of those who have fought courageously to spread freedom and opportunity around the world, and we reaffirm our steadfast resolve to shine the light of liberty for all who yearn for a brighter, freer future;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Glenn Youngkin, do hereby recognize November 7, 2022 as VICTIMS OF COMMUNISM DAY in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of our citizens.