[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 44 (Tuesday, April 21, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 3662--THE HOLOCAUST ASSETS COMMISSION ACT OF 1998

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 21, 1998

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in strong 
support of H.R. 3662, the Holocaust Assets Commission Act of 1998, 
which was introduced in the House by our distinguished colleague and my 
dear friend, the Chairman of the Banking Committee, Congressman Jim 
Leach of Iowa. The identical legislation, S. 1900, has been introduced 
in the other body by Senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York.
  This legislation will establish a U.S. Holocaust Assets Historical 
Commission to examine and locate Holocaust-era assets which came under 
the control of our Federal government during the tyrannical reign of 
Adolf Hitler's Third Reich or during the period of U.S. military 
occupation immediately after World War II.
  For several years, due the principled leadership of the Clinton 
Administration and its able Under Secretary of State for Economic 
Affairs, Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, our government has worked 
tirelessly to seek answers to questions about Nazi investments and 
holdings in wartime neutral nations. Now, as Ambassador Eizenstat has 
eloquently stated, ``the time has come to look more closely at assets 
here at home--and to do so with sensitivity and urgency.'' The U.S. 
Holocaust Assets Commission will follow through on this important 
mission. Due to the dwindling population of Hitler's victims, this task 
becomes more and more pressing with each passing day.
  Under the legislation which has been introduced, the Commission will 
be composed of 23 Members of Congress, government officials, and 
private citizens. They will have the broad mandate and the 
responsibility to research all available information to determine 
assets which may have come under the control of the Federal government 
after January 30, 1933--the day Hitler seized power in Germany. It will 
work with state and local officials to locate dormant bank accounts 
from this era that may, after years of inactivity, have been taken into 
the possession of state governments.
  The Commission will also be authorized by this legislation to 
coordinate its efforts with other fact-finding endeavors currently 
being pursued through private and public sector channels, and to 
carefully review studies which may overlap with its mandate. Finally, 
the Commission will detail its findings in a final report to President 
Clinton to be issued no later than December 31, 1999. It is my sincere 
hope that, in cooperation with the efforts of other nations which are 
reviewing similar wartime issues, we can finally close this most sorry 
chapter of the last century before the birth of the new millennium.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation builds on the dedicated efforts of 
Ambassador Eizenstat to seek justice for Holocaust survivors. A man of 
outstanding intellectual ability, unimpeachable integrity and boundless 
compassion, Ambassador Eizenstat is one of the finest public servants 
that I have met during my service as a Member of Congress. He was one 
of the first to champion this cause during his tenure as United States 
Ambassador to NATO, and he has since worked ably and devotedly to 
reinforce our nation's role as a moral leader on this critical matter.
  Last May, Ambassador Eizenstat authored a ground-breaking report 
issued by the Clinton Administration which analyzed and made 
recommendations regarding U.S. policy towards the wartime neutral 
countries, and in particular Switzerland. A second report, due to be 
released later this month, will no doubt shed an even brighter light on 
those bodies that did Hitler's bidding and fed his war machine and his 
murderous genocidal policies.
  In addition to these significant efforts, Ambassador Eizenstat 
recently joined Chairman Miles Lerman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial 
Council to announce that a Washington Conference on Holocaust-era 
assets will take place at the State Department on November 9-12 of this 
year. This Conference will further earlier explorations of Nazi-looted 
assets, including artwork and insurance, and it will work to establish 
a broad international consensus for future actions. I am truly honored 
to have the privilege of working with Ambassador Eizenstat on this and 
other subjects of concern to the American people.
  Ambassador Eizenstat, Congressman Leach, and Senator D'Amato are 
joined by many of our distinguished colleagues in supporting H.R. 3662 
and S. 1900. Original co-sponsors in the House include Congressman 
Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, Chairman of the House International 
Relations Committee, as well as Congressman Sam Gejdenson of 
Connecticut, Congressman Brad Sherman of California, and Congressman 
Jon D. Fox of Pennsylvania. In the Senate, cosponsors are Senator 
Barbara Boxer of California, Senator Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois, 
Senator Robert F. Bennett of Utah, Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado, 
Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, Senator Richard H. Bryan of 
Nevada, Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, Senator Lauch Faircloth of North 
Carolina, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Senator John F. Kerry of 
Massachusetts, Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, and Senator Paul 
S. Sarbanes of Maryland.
  Mr. Speaker, the Holocaust Assets Commission Act of 1998 is not a 
partisan issue--members on both sides of the aisle have united to 
support this legislation. It is not a national issue--over a dozen 
countries from around the world have formed similar fact-finding bodies 
to uncover the truth about Nazi-looted assets in their own countries.
  This is a moral issue. This is the final opportunity for justice for 
many Holocaust survivors who were powerless to defend Hitler's attempts 
to destroy their families, their culture, and their lives. They are 
getting older and their population is declining rapidly--the 
``biological solution'' leaves us little time to secure for them a 
measure of (albeit imperfect) justice during their lifetimes. It is 
time for America to lead by example. I ask my colleagues to join me in 
strong support of H.R. 3662 to seek the truth about Holocaust assets in 
the United States.

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