[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 45 (Thursday, March 28, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E489]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE MARCH OF THE LIVING PROGRAM

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                           HON. NITA M. LOWEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 28, 1996

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, next month thousands of young people will 
participate in the March of the Living Program. I would like to take 
this opportunity to commemorate the participants and organizers of this 
very special program.
  Since 1988, the March of the Living Program has provided over 20,000 
young people from around the world with an extraordinary method of 
Holocaust education. Participants of the program are taken to visit the 
concentration camps in Poland to view the sites of Nazi atrocities. 
They are shown the gas chambers, crematoria, and piles of personal 
articles confiscated from the children who perished in the camps. From 
there, the participants go to Israel to see the great triumph of those 
who survived the Holocaust and went on to create a nation.
  Although this program will be a unique and wonderful opportunity for 
the participants, it will not receive the support of the Austrian 
Government. The Austrian Government has chosen not to participate in 
the program, and is thereby passing up an opportunity to affirm its 
commitment to the preservation of Jewish heritage. I am very 
disappointed in this decision, and have written to the Austrian 
President and Ambassador asking them to reconsider this decision.
  The March of the Living will go forward this year, and it will be a 
profound experience for all those participating. It will be truly 
unfortunate, however, if the Austrian Government is not one of those 
participants.

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