[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 17 (Friday, January 27, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S1710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           THE ``ENOLA GAY''

  Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, I have followed with increasing distress 
the events surrounding the Smithsonian Institution's exhibit on the 
Enola Gay and the end of World War II. With each passing day we are 
made privy to revelations of an offensive and unrecognizable telling of 
the great struggle to protect the United States and free the world from 
the tyranny of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
  Many of our citizens who have proudly worn the uniform of our 
military and offered their lives in the service of our Nation, have 
expressed justified outrage that the Nation's repository of collective 
memory should be so callously dismissive of the salient issues 
involved.
  Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime were responsible for the unspeakable 
horror upon tens of millions of people in Europe. Indeed, today marks 
the 15th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a striking event 
which reminds us of the tyranny of fascism. Imperial Japan launched a 
calculated attack on our Nation in the predawn light of December 7, 
1941, and precipitated a war which saw excruciating suffering visited 
upon the people of Korea, Manchuria, and the military forces of the 
United States. And now, the institution which for over a century has 
served as the premier repository of our cultural, intellectual, and 
technological history has decided to portray the noble, titanic 
struggle against evil as nothing more that a power struggle against 
moral equivalents.
  I am appalled that our national history is being rewritten. I spoke 
against the original Enola Gay display at the Smithsonian which wrongly 
depicted our Nation's history during World War II. The second display 
resulted in more revisionism and more public concern and required 
congressional consternation to get it changed.
  The Smithsonian Institution has a magnificent track record of telling 
the history of our country with accuracy, compassion, and style.
  I call upon the Smithsonian Institution to work with veteran 
organizations to create an accurate, fair, and compelling display of 
which we all can be proud.


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