[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 46 (Thursday, April 23, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3554-S3555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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            TRIBUTE TO THE JCRC HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CEREMONY

 Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, the Jewish Community Relations 
Council (JCRC) hosted the annual Holocaust Memorial Ceremony starting 
on April 19 in remembrance of the six million Jews who died in the 
Holocaust. The theme for this year's ceremony is ``A People Survives: 
From the Gates of Hell to the Gates of Jerusalem.'' This memorial 
service draws over 3,000 people every year to honor the stoicism and 
faith of all people who were unjustly massacred by the Nazis. The 
Holocaust Memorial Ceremony is one of the most profound events in the 
Jewish Community.
  The JCRC was established in 1938 and works to promote issues of 
Jewish communal concern and is driven by Jewish values of 
humanitarianism, respect for others, and the sanctity of human life. To 
this day the JCRC has worked to create a society in which there is 
equal opportunity for all, freedom of thought, opinion, religion and 
constructive, amicable relationships between people of all races and 
creeds. They pledge to do all this while maintaining the integrity and 
character of the Jewish faith.
  In 1980 Congress established the United States Holocaust Memorial 
Council and mandated it to lead the nation in civic commemorations of 
the

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victims of the Holocaust (called Days of Remembrance), to sponsor the 
national annual civic commemoration and to encourage appropriate 
Remembrance observances throughout the country. This year Yom Hashoah 
was April 23. The Days of Remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust 
are being observed from Sunday, April 19 through Sunday, April 26.
  Before there was a United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Days of 
Remembrance was established and carried out, not only in the Rotunda of 
the United States Capitol, but all across the nation. This annual, 
national commemoration program is the United States Holocaust Memorial 
Council's longest-running program and is essential to the Council's 
Congressional mandate.
  We have now reached the time at which many of the Holocaust survivors 
are passing on. It is imperative that all of humanity maintain respect 
for and never forget the tremendous suffering of the Jewish community. 
It is true that this event is a wholly Jewish experience, and yet, the 
entire world still reels from its impact. It is the responsibility of 
the people of the United States and the world to ensure that the memory 
of the Holocaust lives on.
  Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to give their blessings to the 
Holocaust Memorial Ceremony and to praise the efforts of the JCRC in 
maintaining awareness of the Holocaust.

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