[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 1, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S3305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PERMITTING USE OF THE ROTUNDA OF THE CAPITOL

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of House Concurrent Resolution 
20, just received from the House.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the concurrent resolution.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 20) permitting the 
     use of the rotunda of the Capitol for a ceremony to 
     commemorate the days of remembrance of victims of the 
     Holocaust.

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today to express my support for 
House Concurrent Resolution 20, which would permit the use of the 
Capitol rotunda to commemorate the Days of Remembrance of Victims of 
the Holocaust.
  It has now been more than 50 years since Adolf Hitler mounted his 
systematic effort to destroy the Jewish people. Today, many survivors 
of the Holocaust are aging or have died. Soon, they will no longer be 
able to share their first-hand accounts of Hitler's savagery.
  Now more than ever, we must redouble our efforts to remember the 
terror of the Third Reich, and to teach our children important lessons 
about the need for tolerance and the dangers of intimidation.
  The Days of Remembrance is a week-long commemoration of the 
Holocaust. On April 27, an international day of commemoration, there 
will be a ceremony on the Capitol rotunda consisting of speeches, 
readings, and musical presentations, to honor and remember the 6 
million innocent victims of the Holocaust. As a humane and tolerant 
society, we must stamp on our souls the haunting memories of these 
victims: men and women, young and old, who were tortured and killed not 
because of something they did, but simply because of who they were.
  Mr. President, we are all familiar with the adage that those who do 
not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
  Our duty to those who died on the trains, in the fields and in the 
gas chambers, is to make sure that their story is told from generation 
to generation. We must study and reflect on the atrocities of the 
Nazis, in order to make sure that this dark chapter of history is never 
repeated.
  It is a painful study, Mr. President, but it is the only way we can 
sanctify the memory of the victims and make sure that their suffering 
is never forgotten.
  Mr. President, there is often a temptation to obscure the dark 
passages to humanity, but we know that we cannot be true to history 
unless we reveal them. The Days of Remembrance are a time for us to 
undergo this painful reflection and I laud my colleagues for passing 
this important resolution.
  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider the vote be laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 20) was agreed to.


  

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