[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 177 (Thursday, November 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S16934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         COMMENDING THE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 193, submitted 
earlier today by Senator Hatch.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will state the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 193) deploring individuals who deny 
     the historical reality of the Holocaust and commending the 
     vital, ongoing work of the United States Holocaust Memorial 
     Museum.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the resolution?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today to join the Senior 
Senator from Utah in support of the Hatch-Lautenberg Resolution which 
condemns individuals who deny the historical reality of the Holocaust. 
It also commends the vital, tireless work of the U.S. Holocaust 
Memorial Museum. I urge my colleagues to join us in approving the 
resolution, affirming that this distinguished body, the U.S. Senate, 
denounces those who deny that the Holocaust occurred.
  Mr. President, more than 50 years ago, Adolf Hitler mounted his 
systematic effort to destroy whole populations--including the Jewish 
people, gypsies, the disabled, Poles, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, 
Soviet POW's and political dissidents. Six million Jews and five 
million others were murdered. That is a historical fact proven by 
detailed records kept by the Nazis. Our duty to the survivors of the 
Holocaust and 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.
  Mr. President, we have reason to be concerned. A recent poll found 
that 22 percent of Americans think that it is possible one of the most 
horrifying events in the history of the world never occurred. Even 
before the end of World War II, anti-Semitic groups worked to create 
the illusion that the Holocaust was nothing more than a myth. These 
individuals, bent on their own agenda of hatred, often pass themselves 
off as scholars and historians, and their findings as fact, they 
dispute all personal accounts and physical evidence as mere propaganda. 
Their allegations are astounding when you consider how well the 
Holocaust is documented.
  In recent years, these individuals have moved from the confines of 
hate groups and other anti-Semitic organizations to our colleges and 
universities. On campuses nationwide, in ads placed in university 
newspapers, they spread their propaganda, lies, and falsehoods in the 
hope of selling their claims. We must not allow groups attacking the 
Holocaust to gain ground or respect, nor can we allow the existence of 
the Holocaust be made a subject of debate. But most important, we can 
not let the memory of 11 million people fade from our memories.
  One of the most important tools we in combating those who would deny 
the Holocaust is viewing firsthand the horrors that took place in the 
concentration camps. This was the core concept of a living museum, 
where visitors could not only walk through and view exhibits, but 
actually feel them. In 1993, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum opened 
its doors to the world. Since then, over 5 million visitors have passed 
through its doors with over two-thirds of those being non-Jews.
  I am honored to serve on the memorial council and to be involved in 
the planning and management of the museum. In this capacity I have met 
and toured the museum with a number of Holocaust survivors. The stories 
of these survivors speak volumes of the horror and the stark reality of 
this event. I find it unimaginable that anyone could view such a 
collection without a heartfelt feeling of loss for what the victims and 
their families endured.
  Mr. President, I commend the individuals whose vision made the museum 
a reality. The survivors and families of those lost have shared their 
stories in a collection that teaches all that are willing to learn 
about the Holocaust. The building, in the shadow of the Washington and 
Jefferson Memorials, is a testament to the existence of one of the most 
tragic events in the history of the world. By acknowledging that the 
Holocaust did happen, and by educating these nonbelievers, can we help 
ensure that it will never happen again.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the resolution 
appear at the appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  So the resolution (S. Res. 193) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, is as follows:

                              S. Res. 193

       Whereas the Holocaust is a basic fact of history, the 
     denial of which is no less absurd than the denial of the 
     occurrence of the Second World War;
       Whereas the Holocaust--the systematic, state-sponsored mass 
     murders by Nazi Germany of 6,000,000 Jews, alongside millions 
     of others, in the name of a perverse racial theory--stands as 
     one of the most ferociously heinous state acts the world has 
     ever known; and
       Whereas those who promote the denial of the Holocaust do so 
     out of profound ignorance or for the purpose of furthering 
     anti-Semitism and racism: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) deplores the persistent, ongoing and malicious efforts 
     by some persons in this country and abroad to deny the 
     historical reality of the Holocaust; and
       (2) commends the vital, ongoing work of the United States 
     Holocaust Memorial Museum, which memorializes the victims of 
     the Holocaust and teaches all who are willing to learn 
     profoundly compelling and universally resonant moral lessons.

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