[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 96 (Thursday, July 1, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1464-E1465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE HOLOCAUST ASSETS COMMISSION EXTENSION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. RICK LAZIO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 30, 1999

  Mr. LAZIO. Mr. Speaker, as we approach the new millennium, it is 
right and proper that we look forward to the bright future before us. 
Yet mileposts like these, like old photographs, evoke reflection on the 
past, not just of our triumphs but also our tragedies. Today I want to 
draw our attention back to the past, back to one of the most tragic 
chapters in all of human history, to the Holocaust and its aftermath.
  The horrors of the Holocaust are well known: six million Jews 
murdered, along with millions of others deemed ``undesirable'' by Adolf 
Hitler and his followers. It is often overlooked, however, that the 
Holocaust was not only one of the largest mass murders in history, but 
also the largest organized theft in history. The Nazis stole, 
plundered, and looted billions of dollars of assets. A half-century 
later we still lack a full accounting.
  One year ago, Congress passed and the President signed legislation 
creating the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in 
the United States. The Commission has two goals. The first is to 
conduct original historical research into the question of what happened 
to the assets of Holocaust victims that came into the ``possession or 
control'' of the Federal Government. This research will also include a 
review of work done by others looking into the matter of assets that 
passed into non-Federal hands, commodities that included gold, non-gold 
financial assets, and art and cultural property. The second is to 
recommend to the President the appropriate future action necessary to 
bring closure to this issue.
  As a member of the Commission, I feel compelled to address the 
question, ``why now?'' Why, as we look forward to the new millennium, 
are the resources of the United States and 17 other nations being 
devoted to learning the truth about the treatment of Holocaust victims 
half a century ago?
  The answer is simple. Holocaust survivors are aging--and dying. If we 
are ever to do justice to them, and the memory of the six million Jews 
and millions of other victims who perished, we must act quickly. The 
intransigence of the Swiss and others has inflamed passions and 
energized advocates throughout the world. Justice delayed is justice 
denied. And with the end of the Cold War, we have the opportunity to 
look at the immediate post-World War II period with a fresh 
perspective.
  Even if the world were so inclined, it is now impossible to pretend 
that justice was done. We know too much. We know that in Europe banks 
sat on dormant accounts for five decades; that insurance companies 
evaded their responsibilities to honor policies held by victims; that 
unscrupulous art dealers sold paintings that wee extorted from Jews who 
feared for their lives; and that gold from Holocaust victims was 
resmelted, often becoming the basis for financial dealings between 
large corporate entities.
  The Holocaust Commission Act assumes a sunset date of December 1999. 
Because of the delay in starting a new enterprise from scratch and 
because of the enormous volume of archival and other resources that 
need to be examined, it is clear that the commission must have more 
time and more funding to accomplish its mission.
  Therefore, in acknowledgment of this need, I am introducing the 
Holocaust Commission Extension Act. This act will do two things: extend 
the sunset date of the Commission to December 2000 and authorize the 
Commission to receive additional funding. I am joined today by my 
colleagues on the Commission: Chairman Ben Gilman, Jim Maloney and Brad 
Sherman, as well as John LaFalce of the House Banking Committee, and 
Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach, who has led the way on this 
issue. The effort to create the Commission has been bipartisan and will 
remain so. Honoring the memories of the victims and the pursuit of 
justice in their names cannot be sullied by politics as usual. I invite 
my colleagues on both ends of the aisle to cosponsor and support this 
bill.
  We are all familiar with George Santayana's famous quote--``Those who 
cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'' With this quote 
comes the unspoken prerequisite: the truth must be established and 
acknowledged before it can be remembered. The United States, along with 
every other nation, must therefore remember the Holocaust as

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both history and as an unfolding of human tragedy. I am confident that 
the Commission's efforts will demonstrate that as Americans we are 
willing to confront our own past, and in so doing, we will demonstrate 
our leadership in the international effort to obtain justice for the 
victims of the Holocaust and their families.

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