[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 82 (Thursday, June 5, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7471-S7472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE HOLOCAUST VICTIMS' ASSETS, RESTITUTION POLICY, AND REMEMBRANCE ACT

  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, today I join my colleagues in support of 
the Holocaust Victims' Assets, Restitution Policy, and Remembrance Act.
  We are motivated by a desire to achieve justice for Holocaust victims 
and their families, and we recognize that if such justice is to be 
attained, the United States must continue to lead the world by example.
  The United States has provided leadership in this area ever since 
American troops liberated the death camps. Most recently, the United 
States has been the driving force behind international settlements with 
foreign governments, the Swiss banks, the European insurance companies, 
and German corporations that benefited from slave labor. This 
legislation recognizes that the struggle for justice requires continued 
American leadership and that the foundation is the appropriate 
mechanism for that leadership.
  Justice is timeless, and it is time for us to take the necessary 
steps and help Holocaust survivors reunite with their assets and 
belongings. For many survivors and family members, a painting, a piece 
of furniture, or a family heirloom is the only remaining connection 
between them and their loved ones who died in the Holocaust. This 
legislation is long overdue. I hope that it reunites many victims and 
families with those items that have been missing for too many years, 
and a reunion like that would be a bittersweet kind of justice.
  The purpose of this act is to create a public/private foundation to 
integrate research that has been conducted by 23 international 
commissions in the area of Holocaust-era assets, to complete the 
research agenda that arises from that synthesis, and stimulate the 
transition to a contemporary restitution policy.
  The foundation will be the single most effective facilitator of the 
identification and return of Holocaust-era asserts to their rightful 
owners and heirs ever supported by the U.S. Government.
  If the nations of the world are to be convinced of our lasting 
commitment to justice for Holocaust victims and if continued work on 
Holocaust assets issues is to be truly effective, the foundation must 
have the stamp of the Federal Government. But the Federal Government 
cannot, and should not, perform these tasks by itself.
  It will coordinate the efforts of the Federal Government, State 
governments, the private sector, and individuals here, and abroad, to 
help people locate and identify assets who would

[[Page S7472]]

otherwise have no ability to do so. It will encourage policymakers to 
deal with contemporary restitution issues, including how best to treat 
unclaimed assets.
  The foundation is authorized for 10 years, after which it will sunset 
and ``spin off'' its research results and materials to other 
appropriate public and private entities. It is able to accept private 
funds as well as public dollars.
  The commission identified a number of policy initiatives that require 
U.S. leadership. These initiatives included, but are not limited to the 
need to: compile a report that integrates, synthesizes, and supplements 
the research on Holocaust-era assets that has been conducted around the 
world; review the degree to which other nations have implemented the 
principles adopted at various international conferences; work with 
organizations to provide for the coordinated and centralized 
dissemination of information about restitution programs; encourage the 
creation and expansion of mechanisms, including Alternative Dispute 
Resolution options, to assist claimants in obtaining the speedy 
resolution of their claims; and, support the establishment and 
maintenance of a computerized and searchable database of Holocaust 
victims' claims for the restitution of personal property.
  The foundation will also encourage, and support, the efforts of State 
governments to facilitate the cross match of unclaimed property records 
with lists of Holocaust victims. It will work with the museum community 
to further stimulate provenance research into European paintings and 
Judaica. It will promote and monitor the implementation by major 
banking institutions of the agreement developed in conjunction with the 
New York Bankers Association. Finally, it will work with the private 
sector to develop and promote common standards and best practices for 
research on Holocaust-era assets.
  The impetus for the foundation comes from the work of the 
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United 
States chaired by Edgar M. Bronfman, Sr. The commission report, 
``Plunder and Restitution: The U.S. and Holocaust Victims' Assets,'' 
was the most comprehensive examination ever conducted into how the 
Federal Government handled the assets of Holocaust victims that came 
into its possession or control.
  The Congress has dealt with Holocaust issues on a nonpartisan basis, 
and I am confident it will consider this bill in the same spirit. I 
urge my colleagues to cosponsor it and look forward to its prompt 
adoption.

                          ____________________