[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 41 (Wednesday, April 9, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E617-E618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             PROPERTY CLAIMS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 9, 1997

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the last 
Congress, I introduced a resolution on the difficult subject of 
property claims arising from Fascist- and Communist-era confiscations 
in Central and Eastern Europe. As with the previous resolution, I am 
joined by my colleagues from the Helsinki Commission in introducing 
this resolution. Mr. Porter, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Salmon, Mr. Christensen, Mr. 
Hoyer, Mr. Markey, and Mr. Cardin have agreed to be original cosponsors 
of this resolution.
  This resolution stemmed from a hearing I convened in July with Under 
Secretary of

[[Page E618]]

Commerce Stuart Eizenstat and Chairwoman of the Foreign Claims 
Settlement Commission Delissa Ridgway. In compelling testimony 
presented to the Helsinki Commission, these two individuals outlined 
the maze of programs and procedures which govern property claims in 
Central and Eastern Europe today. Chairwoman Ridgway's Commission is 
primarily concerned with adjudicating agreements on behalf of American 
claimants in those instances where agreements between the United States 
and foreign governments have already been reached. Under Secretary 
Eizenstat has sought to engage these governments in a dialog about 
these issues, to foster a greater acknowledgment of past wrongs, and to 
discern the ways in which the process of making compensation or 
restitution can be further advanced. I commend both of these people for 
the strong leadership they have shown in their work.
  Mr. Speaker, the procedures that exist for compensation or 
restitution differ from country to country, often requiring claimants 
to travel a road so encumbered with conditions and qualifications that 
it must be a miracle for anyone to have any property returned. And 
that, of course, is only in those countries which have actually adopted 
restitution or compensation laws--many countries in this region have 
not even taken that step. I am particularly anxious to ensure that the 
survivors of Nazi persecution--people who, in many instances, were 
unable to receive compensation made available to their counterparts in 
the West or in Israel--receive the belated compensation that may enable 
them to live their remaining days in dignity. Moreover, I am deeply 
troubled that several countries in this region have adopted 
compensation or restitution laws that discriminate on the basis of 
citizenship or residency, a move that clearly and unfairly 
discriminates against American claimants.
  I hope other Members of Congress will join me in signaling the 
countries of Central and Eastern Europe and, in particular, calling for 
the urgent return of property formerly belonging to Jewish communities 
as a means of redressing the especially compelling problems of aging 
and often destitute survivors of the Holocaust. In addition, this 
resolution calls for countries to remove from their books restrictions 
which require claimants seeking compensation or restitution to have the 
citizenship of, or residency in, the country from which they seek 
compensation or restitution.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask that the text of the resolution be printed 
in the Record at this point.

                             H. Con. Res.--

       Whereas Fascist and Communist dictatorships have caused 
     immeasurable human suffering and loss, degrading not only 
     every conceivable human right, but the human spirit itself;
       Whereas the villainy of communism was dedicated, in 
     particular, to the organized and systematic destruction of 
     private property ownership;
       Whereas the wrongful and illegal confiscation of property 
     perpetrated by Fascist and Communist regimes was often 
     specifically designed to victimize people because of their 
     religion, national or social origin, or expressed opposition 
     to the regimes which repressed them;
       Whereas Fascists and Communists often obtained possession 
     of properties confiscated from the victims of the systems 
     they actively supported;
       Whereas Jewish individuals and communities were often twice 
     victimized, first by the Nazis and their collaborators and 
     then by the subsequent Communist regimes;
       Whereas churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious 
     properties were also destroyed or confiscated as a means of 
     breaking the spiritual devotion and allegiance of religious 
     adherents;
       Whereas Fascists, Nazis, and Communists have used foreign 
     financial institutions to launder and hold wrongfully and 
     illegally confiscated property and convert it to their own 
     personal use;
       Whereas some foreign financial institutions violated their 
     fiduciary duty to their customers by converting to their own 
     use financial assets belonging to Holocaust victims while 
     denying heirs access to these assets;
       Whereas refugees from communism, in addition to being 
     wrongly stripped of their private property, were often forced 
     to relinquish their citizenship in order to protect 
     themselves and their families from reprisals by the 
     Communists who ruled their countries;
       Whereas the participating states of the Organization for 
     Security and Cooperation in Europe have agreed to give full 
     recognition and protection to all types of property, 
     including private property, as well as the right to prompt, 
     just, and effective compensation in the event private 
     property is taken for public use;
       Whereas the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as 
     well as the Caucasus and Central Asia, have entered a post-
     Communist period of transition and democratic development, 
     and many countries have begun the difficult and wrenching 
     process of trying to right the past wrongs of previous 
     totalitarian regimes;
       Whereas restrictions which require those whose properties 
     have been wrongly plundered by Nazi or Communist regimes to 
     reside in or have the citizenship of the country from which 
     they now seek restitution or compensation are arbitrary and 
     discriminatory in violation of international law; and
       Whereas the rule of law and democratic norms require that 
     the activity of governments and their administrative agencies 
     be exercised in accordance with the laws passed by their 
     parliaments or legislatures and such laws themselves must be 
     consistent with international human rights standards: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring, That the Congress--
       (1) welcomes the efforts of many post-Communist countries 
     to address the complex and difficult question of the status 
     of plundered properties;
       (2) urges countries which have not already done so to 
     return plundered properties to their rightful owners or, as 
     an alternative, pay compensation, in accordance with 
     principles of justice and in a manner that is just, 
     transparent, and fair;
       (3) calls for the urgent return of property formerly 
     belonging to Jewish communities as a means of redressing the 
     particularly compelling problems of aging and destitute 
     survivors of the Holocaust;
       (4) calls on the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, 
     Romania, Slovakia and any other country with restrictions 
     which require those whose properties have been wrongly 
     plundered by Nazi or Communist regimes to reside in or have 
     the citizenship of the country from which they now seek 
     restitution or compensation to remove such restrictions from 
     their restitution or compensation laws;
       (5) calls upon foreign financial institutions, and the 
     states having legal authority over their operation, that 
     possess wrongfully and illegally property confiscated from 
     Holocaust victims, from residents of former Warsaw Pact 
     states who were forbidden by Communist law from obtaining 
     restitution of such property, and from states that were 
     occupied by Nazi, Fascist, or Communist forces, to assist and 
     to cooperate fully with efforts to restore this property to 
     its rightful owners; and
       (6) urges post-Communist countries to pass and effectively 
     implement laws that provide for restitution of, or 
     compensation for, plundered property.

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