[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S10375]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 INTRODUCTION OF THE U.S. HOLOCAUST ASSETS COMMISSION EXTENSION ACT OF 
                                  1999

  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President and Members of the Senate, next 
week our Nation will pass an important if unnoticed anniversary--the 
anniversary of one of the first official notifications we were given of 
the atrocities of the Holocaust.
  On August 8, 1942, Dr. Gerhart Reigner, the World Jewish Congress 
representative in Geneva, sent a cable to both Rabbi Stephen Wise--the 
President of the World Jewish Congress--and a British Member of 
Parliament. In it, Dr. Reigner wrote about ``an alarming report'' that 
Hitler was planning that all Jews in countries occupied or controlled 
by Germany ``should after deportation and concentration * * * be 
exterminated at one blow to resolve once and for all the Jewish 
question in Europe.'' Our Government's reaction to this news was not 
our greatest moment during that terrible era.
  First, the State Department refused to give the cable to Rabbi Wise. 
After Rabbi Wise got a copy of the cable from the British, he passed it 
along to the Undersecretary of State, who asked him not to make the 
contents public until it could be confirmed. Rabbi Wise didn't make it 
public, but he did tell President Roosevelt, members of the cabinet, 
and Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter about the cable. None of 
them chose to act publicly on its contents.
  Our government finally did acknowledge the report some months later, 
but the question remains: how many lives could have been saved had we 
responded to this clear warning of the Holocaust earlier and with more 
vigor? The questions of how the United States responded to the 
Holocaust and, specifically, what was the fate of the Holocaust 
victims' assets that came into the possession or control of the United 
States government, is the focus of the Presidential Advisory Commission 
on Holocaust Assets in the United States, of which I am a member.
  This bipartisan Commission--chaired by Edgar M. Bronfinan--is 
composed of 21 individuals, including four Senators, four Members of 
the House, representatives of the Departments of the Army, Justice, 
State, and Treasury, the Chairman of the United States Holocaust 
Memorial Council, and eight private citizens.
  The Commission is charged with conducting original research into what 
happened to the assets of Holocaust victims--including gold, other 
financial instruments and art and cultural objects--that passed into 
the possession or control of the Federal government, including the 
Federal Reserve. We are also to survey the research done by others 
about what happened to the assets of Holocaust victims that passed into 
non-Federal hands, including State governments, and report to the 
President, making recommendations for future actions, whether 
legislative or administrative.
  The Commission was created last year by a unanimous Act of Congress, 
and has been hard at work since early this year. Perhaps the most 
important information that the Commission's preliminary research has 
uncovered is the fact that the question of the extent to which assets 
of Holocaust victims fell into Federal hands is much, much larger than 
we thought even a year ago, when we first established this Commission.
  Last month, at the quarterly meeting of the Commissioners in 
Washington, we unveiled a ``map'' of Federal and related offices 
through which these assets may have flowed. To everyone's surprise, 
taking a sample year--1943--we found more than 75 separate entities 
that may have been involved.
  The records of each of these offices must first be located and then 
scoured--page by page--at the National Archives and other record 
centers across the United States. In total, we must look at tens of 
million of pages to complete the historical record of this period.
  Furthermore, to our nation's credit, we are currently declassifying 
millions of pages of World War II-era information that may shine light 
on our government's policies and procedures during that time. But, this 
salutary effort dramatically increases the work the Commission must do 
to fulfill the mandate we have given it.
  In addition, as the Commission pursues its research, it is 
discovering new aspects of the story of Holocaust assets that hadn't 
previously been understood. The Commission's research may be unearthing 
an alarming trend to import into the United States through South 
America, art and other possessions looted from Holocaust victims. 
Pursuing these leads will require the review of additional thousands of 
documents.
  The Commission is also finding aspects of previously known incidents 
that have not been carefully or credibly researched. The ultimate fate 
of the so-called ``Hungarian Gold Trains.''--for example--a set of 
trains containing the art, gold, and other valuables of Hungarian 
victims of the Nazis that was detained by the liberating US Army during 
their dash for Berlin has not been carefully investigated.
  In another area of our research, investigators are seeking to piece 
together the puzzle of foreign-owned intellectual property--some of 
which may have been owned by victims of Nazi genocide--the rights to 
which were vested in the Federal government under wartime law.
  For all of these reasons and more, I am introducing today with 
Senators Boxer, Dodd and Grams the ``U.S. Holocaust Assets Commission 
Extension Act of 1999.'' This simple piece of legislation moves to 
December, 2000, the date of the final report of the Presidential 
Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States, giving 
our investigators the time to do a professional and credible job on the 
tasks the congress has assigned to them.
  This bill also authorizes additional appropriations for the 
Commission to complete its work. I strongly urge all of my colleagues 
to join me in support of this necessary and simple of legislation.
  As we approach the end of the millennium, the United States is 
without a doubt the strongest nation on the face of the earth. Our 
strength, however, is not limited to our military and economic might. 
Our nation is strong because we have the resolve to look at ourselves 
and our history honestly and carefully--even if the truth we find shows 
us in a less-than flattering light.
  The Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the 
United States is seeking the truth about the belongings of Holocaust 
victims that came into the possession or control of the United States 
government. All of my colleagues should support this endeavor, and we 
must give the Commission the time and support it needs by supporting 
the U.S. Holocaust Assets Commission Extension Act of 1999.

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