[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 577 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 577

Strongly recommending that the United States renegotiate the return of 
                   the Iraqi Jewish Archive to Iraq.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 18, 2018

 Mr. Toomey (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Rubio) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Strongly recommending that the United States renegotiate the return of 
                   the Iraqi Jewish Archive to Iraq.

Whereas, before the mid-20th century, Baghdad had been a center of Jewish life, 
        culture, and scholarship, dating back to 721 B.C.;
Whereas, as recently as 1940, Jews made up 25 percent of Baghdad's population;
Whereas, in the 1930s and 1940s, under the leadership of Rasheed Ali, anti-
        Jewish discrimination increased drastically, including the June 1-2, 
        1941, Farhud pogrom, in which nearly 180 Jews were killed;
Whereas, in 1948, Zionism was added to the Iraqi criminal code as punishable by 
        death;
Whereas, throughout 1950-1953, Jews were allowed to leave Iraq under the 
        condition that they renounce their citizenship;
Whereas, as result of past persecution, few Jews remain in Iraq today, and many 
        left their possessions and treasured artifacts behind;
Whereas the Ba'ath regime confiscated these artifacts, later dubbed the Iraqi 
        Jewish Archive, from synagogues and communal organizations;
Whereas, on May 6, 2003, members of the United States Armed Forces discovered 
        the Iraqi Jewish Archive, which included 2,700 books and tens of 
        thousands of documents, in the heavily damaged and flooded basement of 
        the Mukhabarat (secret police) headquarters;
Whereas, under great urgency and before adequate time could be dedicated to 
        researching the history of the Iraqi Jewish Archive, an agreement was 
        signed between the National Archives and Records Administration and the 
        Coalition Provisional Authority on August 20, 2003, stating that the 
        Iraqi Jewish Archive would be sent to the United States for restoration 
        and then would be sent back to Iraq after completion;
Whereas the Iraqi Jewish community is the constituency of the Archive and is now 
        represented by the diaspora outside Iraq;
Whereas the current Government of Iraq has publicly acknowledged the importance 
        of the Archive and demonstrated a shared respect for the wishes of the 
        Iraqi Jewish diaspora by attending the December 2013 burial of several 
        Torah fragments from the Archive in New York;
Whereas United States taxpayers invested $3,000,000 to restore the Iraqi Jewish 
        Archive, and the National Archives and Records Administration has worked 
        diligently to preserve the artifacts;
Whereas the National Archives and Records Administration has, from 2013 to 2018, 
        displayed the Iraqi Jewish Archive in--

    (1) Washington, DC;

    (2) New York, New York;

    (3) Kansas City, Missouri;

    (4) Yorba Linda, California;

    (5) Miami Beach, Florida;

    (6) Dallas, Texas;

    (7) Atlanta, Georgia; and

    (8) Baltimore, Maryland;

Whereas the exhibition of the Iraqi Jewish Archive across the United States and 
        its cataloguing online has enabled people throughout the world and 
        especially the Iraqi Jewish community diaspora to discover, learn about, 
        and reflect upon the rich history of the Jewish community in Iraq;
Whereas, in February 2014, the United States Senate unanimously passed a 
        resolution calling on the Administration to extend the agreement to keep 
        temporarily the Iraqi Jewish Archives in the United States;
Whereas the Administration reached an agreement with the Government of Iraq to 
        keep the Archive in the United States until September 2018; and
Whereas the Iraqi Embassy to the United States has said that the Iraqi Jewish 
        community, like other communities in Iraq, played a key role in building 
        the country, shared in its prosperity, and also suffered exile and 
        forced departure because of tyranny: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) strongly urges the Department of State to renegotiate 
        with the Government of Iraq the provisions of the current 
        agreement that establish the date by which the artifacts of 
        Iraqi Jewish Archive are meant to return to Iraq in order to 
        ensure that they are kept in a place where long-term 
        preservation and care can be guaranteed;
            (2) recognizes that the Iraqi Jewish Archive should be 
        housed in a location that is accessible to scholars and to 
        Iraqi Jews and their descendants who have a personal interest 
        in it;
            (3) recognizes that the initial agreement between the 
        National Archives and Records Administration and the Coalition 
        Provisional Authority was signed before knowing the complete 
        history of the Iraqi Jewish Archive;
            (4) reaffirms the United States commitment to cultural 
        property under international law; and
            (5) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to 
        ensuring justice for victims of ethnic and religious 
        persecution.
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