[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 46 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.Con.Res.46
                                    Agreed to September 12, 2016        

                     One Hundred Fourteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
           the fourth day of January, two thousand and sixteen


                          Concurrent Resolution

Whereas the annihilation of 6,000,000 Jews during the Holocaust and the 
  murder of millions of others by the Nazi German state constitutes one 
  of the most tragic and heinous crimes in human history;

Whereas hundreds of thousands of Jews survived persecution by the Nazi 
  regime despite being imprisoned, subjected to slave labor, moved into 
  ghettos, forced to live in hiding or under false identity or curfew, 
  or required to wear the ``yellow star'';

Whereas in fear of the oncoming Nazi Einsatzgruppen, or ``Nazi Killing 
  Squads'', and the likelihood of extermination, hundreds of thousands 
  of Jewish Nazi victims fled for their lives;

Whereas whatever type of persecution suffered by Jews during the 
  Holocaust, the common thread that binds Holocaust victims is that 
  they were targeted for extermination and they lived with a constant 
  fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones;

Whereas Holocaust victims immigrated to the United States from Europe, 
  the Middle East, North Africa, and the former Soviet Union between 
  1933 and the date of adoption of this resolution;

Whereas it is estimated that there are at least 100,000 Holocaust 
  victims living in the United States and approximately 500,000 
  Holocaust victims living around the world, including child survivors 
  of the Holocaust;

Whereas tens of thousands of Holocaust victims are at least 80 years 
  old, and the number of surviving Holocaust victims is diminishing;

Whereas at least 50 percent of Holocaust victims alive today will pass 
  away within the next decade, and those living victims are becoming 
  frailer and have increasing health and welfare needs;

Whereas Holocaust victims throughout the world continue to suffer from 
  permanent physical and psychological injuries and disabilities and 
  live with the emotional scars of a systematic genocide against the 
  Jewish people;

Whereas many of the emotional and psychological scars of Holocaust 
  victims are exacerbated in the old age of the Holocaust victims;

Whereas the past haunts and overwhelms many aspects of the lives of 
  Holocaust victims when their health fails them;

Whereas Holocaust victims suffer particular trauma when their emotional 
  and physical circumstances force them to leave the security of their 
  homes and enter institutional or other group living residential 
  facilities;

Whereas tens of thousands of Holocaust victims live in poverty and 
  cannot afford, and do not receive, sufficient medical care, home 
  care, mental health care, medicine, food, transportation, and other 
  vital life-sustaining services that allow individuals to live their 
  final years with comfort and dignity;

Whereas Holocaust victims often lack family support networks and 
  require social worker-supported case management in order to manage 
  their daily lives and access government-funded services;

Whereas in response to a letter sent by Members of Congress to the 
  Minister of Finance of Germany in December 2015 relating to increased 
  funding for Holocaust victims, German officials acknowledged that 
  ``recent experience has shown that the care financed by the German 
  Government to date is insufficient'' and that ``it is imperative to 
  expand these assistance measures quickly given the advanced age of 
  many of the affected persons'';

Whereas German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer acknowledged, in 1951, the 
  responsibility of Germany to provide moral and financial compensation 
  to Holocaust victims worldwide;

Whereas every successive German Chancellor has reaffirmed that 
  acknowledgment, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, who, in 2007, 
  reaffirmed that ``only by fully accepting its enduring responsibility 
  for this most appalling period and for the cruelest crimes in its 
  history, can Germany shape the future'';

Whereas, in 2015, the spokesperson of Chancellor Angela Merkel 
  confirmed that ``all Germans know the history of the murderous race 
  mania of the Nazis that led to the break with civilization that was 
  the Holocaust . . . we know the responsibility for this crime against 
  humanity is German and very much our own''; and

Whereas Congress believes it is the moral and historical responsibility 
  of Germany to comprehensively, permanently, and urgently provide 
  resources for the medical, mental health, and long-term care needs of 
  all Holocaust victims: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
        (1) acknowledges the financial and moral commitment of the 
    Federal Republic of Germany over the past seven decades to provide 
    a measure of justice for Holocaust victims; and
        (2) supports the goal of ensuring that all Holocaust victims in 
    the United States and around the world are able to live with 
    dignity, comfort, and security in their remaining years.
Attest:

                                               Secretary of the Senate.
Attest:

                                 Clerk of the House of Representatives.