Six States Move to Recognize Victims of Communism Day

Five states are set to join Virginia in officially recognizing November 7 as "Victims of Communism Memorial Day" by early 2019, a direct result of efforts by VOC's government relations department.

Last March, Virginia became the first state to officially recognize November 7 as “Victims of Communism Memorial Day” after passing a resolution spearheaded by Virginia Delegate Mark Cole. Now, five more states — Illinois, Kansas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas — are moving to adopt similar resolutions by early 2019.

This is the direct result of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation‘s work. In June, our government relations department became an official member of the Federalism and International Relations Task Force convened by the American Legislative Exchange Council. We drafted a resolution — modeled on the Virginia law and a 2017 Presidential Message designating November 7 as “National Day for the Victims of Communism” — and presented it to the Council.

On September 19, our draft was adopted as official model policy recommended to all Council members, who comprise one-quarter of all state legislators in the country. Our goal is to see resolutions passed in all 50 states, so that more people will be aware of the vast human suffering caused by totalitarian regimes.