[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 153 (Tuesday, October 28, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13407-S13409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 76--RECOGNIZING THAT NOVEMBER 2, 2003, 
 SHALL BE DEDICATED TO ``A TRIBUTE TO SURVIVORS'' AT THE UNITED STATES 
                       HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Coleman, Ms. Collins, Mr. 
Reid, Mrs. Boxer, and Mr. Smith) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                            S. Con. Res. 76

       Whereas, in 1945, American soldiers and other Allied 
     forces, defeated Nazi Germany, ending World War II in Europe 
     and the systematic murder of Europe's Jews and other targeted 
     groups;
       Whereas 6,000,000 Jews were killed during the Holocaust, 
     and after World War II hundreds of thousands of survivors 
     immigrated to the United States, where in spite of their 
     enormous suffering, they rebuilt their lives, and embraced 
     and enriched their adopted homeland;
       Whereas, in 1978, President Jimmy Carter created the 
     President's Commission on the Holocaust to make a 
     recommendation regarding ``the establishment . . . of an 
     appropriate memorial to those who perished in the 
     Holocaust'';
       Whereas President Carter said: ``Out of our memory . . . of 
     the Holocaust we must forge an unshakable oath with all 
     civilized people that never again will the world stand 
     silent, never again will the world . . . fail to act in time 
     to prevent this terrible crime of genocide. . . . [W]e must 
     harness the outrage of our own memories to stamp out 
     oppression wherever it exists. We must understand that human 
     rights and human dignity are indivisible.'';

[[Page S13408]]

       Whereas, in 1979, the Commission recommended ``a living 
     memorial that will speak not only of the victims' deaths but 
     of their lives, a memorial that can transform the living by 
     transmitting the legacy of the Holocaust'';
       Whereas, in 1980, the United States Congress unanimously 
     passed legislation authorizing the creation of the United 
     States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a ``permanent living 
     memorial'' on Federal land in the Nation's Capital;
       Whereas, in 1983, Vice President George Bush designated the 
     Federal land on which the United States Holocaust Memorial 
     Museum would be built;
       Whereas Vice President Bush said: ``Here we will learn that 
     each of us bears responsibility for our actions and our 
     failure to act. Here we will learn that we must intervene 
     when we see evil arise. Here we will learn more about the 
     moral compass by which we navigate our lives and by which 
     countries navigate the future.'';
       Whereas, in 1985, Holocaust survivors participated in the 
     groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future United 
     States Holocaust Memorial Museum;
       Whereas, in 1988, President Ronald Reagan dedicated the 
     cornerstone of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum;
       Whereas President Reagan said: ``We who did not go their 
     way owe them this: We must make sure that their deaths have 
     posthumous meaning. We must make sure that from now until the 
     end of days all humankind stares this evil in the face . . . 
     and only then can we be sure it will never arise again.'';
       Whereas, in 1992, replicas of 2 of the milk cans that hid 
     the Oneg Shabbat archive under the Warsaw Ghetto were buried 
     beneath the Museum's Hall of Remembrance, with a Scroll of 
     Remembrance signed by Holocaust survivors;
       Whereas, in 1993, President Bill Clinton opened the United 
     States Holocaust Memorial Museum;
       Whereas President Clinton said: ``[T]his museum will touch 
     the life of everyone who enters and leave everyone forever 
     changed; a place of deep sadness and a sanctuary of bright 
     hope; an ally of education against ignorance, of humility 
     against arrogance, an investment in a secure future against 
     whatever insanity lurks ahead. If this museum can mobilize 
     morality, then those who have perished will thereby gain a 
     measure of immortality.'';
       Whereas, in 2001, President George W. Bush delivered the 
     keynote address at the first Days of Remembrance ceremony 
     after he assumed office.
       Whereas President Bush said: ``When we remember the 
     Holocaust and to whom it happened, we must also remember 
     where it happened . . . The orders came from men who . . . 
     had all the outward traits of cultured men, except for 
     conscience. Their crimes showed the world that evil can slip 
     in, and blend in, even amid the most civilized surroundings. 
     In the end, only conscience can stop it. And moral 
     discernment, decency, tolerance--these can never be assumed 
     in any time, or any society. They must always be taught.'';
       Whereas the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has had 
     more than 19,000,000 visitors in the first 10 years of its 
     existence;
       Whereas, in 2003, the United States Holocaust Memorial 
     Museum, on the occasion of its 10th Anniversary, wishes to 
     pay tribute to America's Holocaust survivors, who worked 
     tirelessly to help build the Museum and whose committed 
     support and involvement continue to make the institution such 
     as extraordinary memorial and a vital part of life in the 
     United States; and
       Whereas the United States Holocaust Museum has a sacred 
     obligation to preserve and transmit the history and lessons 
     of the Holocaust and, together with the Holocaust survivors, 
     must ensure that the legacy of the survivors is passed on to 
     each new generation: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes that November 2, 2003, shall be dedicated to 
     ``A Tribute to Survivors'' at the United States Holocaust 
     Memorial Museum and shall be devoted to honoring our Nation's 
     Holocaust survivors, as well as their liberators and 
     rescuers, and their families;
       (2) recognizes that on that day, the United States 
     Holocaust Memorial Museum shall be devoted in its entirety to 
     special programs about and for the survivors of the 
     Holocaust;
       (3) commends the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 
     for its first decade of education dedicated to the memory of 
     the victims of the Holocaust;
       (4) endeavors to continue to support the vital work of the 
     United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; and
       (5) requests that this resolution shall be duly recorded in 
     the official records of the United States Holocaust Memorial 
     Museum.

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the 
opening of one of this country's greatest museums and educational 
institutions, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I have been 
privileged to serve on the Council of this great institution since its 
founding, and I have had no greater honor in the years I have served in 
Washington.
  The Museum opened in April of 1993. Speaking in this chamber at that 
time, I said that the reason we needed to support this institution was 
simple: ``To remember, and by remembering, to strengthen America's 
moral compass.''
  The Museum has served as an institution of remembrance and study 
since then, and its contribution has been immense. Over 19 million 
visitors have gone through its doors in the past decade, making this 
museum one of the most popular in Washington, and in the United States. 
Of these 19 million, nearly six million of those visitors were 
children, who have seen and been moved by the exhibit ``Daniel's 
Story,'' which renders the story of the Holocaust from the perspective 
of a child.
  Over two million international visitors have come to the Museum in 
the past 10 years. This includes seventy-three heads of state have been 
included among those foreign visitors. I am heartened to imagine how 
they have returned to their many nations with the striking impression 
of how profoundly this country considers the most cataclysmic human 
event of the 20th century, the Holocaust, and how we demonstrate this 
by supporting this institution in the heart of Washington, D.C.
  Not only have nearly 20 million people come to the Museum, but the 
Museum, through its many traveling exhibits, has brought the story of 
the Holocaust to many cities around this country. In 2002, the Museum 
brought another exhibit, ``The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936'' to my home 
State of Utah, to show during our historic Winter Olympics. Over 20,000 
Utahns and foreign visitors attended that exhibit, which demonstrated 
the historic arc from an era of national fascism and barbaric racism to 
the present day vision of tolerance and good will that my state showed 
the world in the winter of 2002.
  The Museum also serves as a educational center for Holocaust 
scholarship. The Museum's Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies 
supports scholarship and publications at the Museum as well as in 
conjunction with universities throughout this country. In the short 
period of its existence, the Museum has already greatly advanced 
Holocaust studies and I say with confidence that future scholars of 
this seminal event of the 20th century will all be influenced by the 
work of this great Museum.
  As I've mentioned already, this is not the first time I have taken to 
the floor to laud the work of this great institution. In November of 
1995, concerned about a rise in episodes, both here and abroad, of 
Holocaust deniers perpetuating their grotesque perversions of history, 
I introduced S. Res. 193, a resolution denouncing Holocaust denial. 
Recognizing the scholarship already being promoted by the Museum, the 
resolution ``commended the vital, ongoing work of the United States 
Holocaust Memorial Museum, which memorializes the victims of the 
Holocaust and teaches all who are willing to learn profoundly 
compelling and universally resonant moral lessons.''
  I introduced that resolution on November 9, 1995, which was the 57th 
anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, the notorious 
1938 pogrom of Jewish persecution by the Nazi regime, preparing the 
dark descent to the Holocaust that was to follow. In my statement, I 
said: ``Fifty-seven years after Kristallnacht, we are fortunate to 
still have survivors of the Holocaust among us. I worry about the 
memory of the Holocaust when the survivors will no longer be here. With 
each passing year, we have fewer survivors among us.''
  The stewards and scholars of the United States Holocaust Memorial 
Museum embody the recognition that the mission of the Museum is to 
preserve the memory of the victims. And for this reason, the Museum is 
marking its 10th anniversary in the only way it could: By hosting a 
historic ``Tribute to Survivors,'' which will occur at the end of this 
week, on November 1st and 2nd. It is fitting and proper that this would 
be the way to mark this anniversary. To date, 6,500 Holocaust survivors 
and their families are scheduled to attend, making this perhaps the 
last reunion of this kind. I urge all of my colleagues to review the 
schedule of events and, if at all possible, to go to the Museum to pay 
tribute to the survivors and this great institution.
  To commemorate this event, and to honor the Museum on its 10th 
anniversary, I wish to submit this resolution

[[Page S13409]]

honoring the victims of the Holocaust and recognizing the vital work of 
the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
  I am most grateful for the co-sponsorship of Senators Voinovich, 
Reid, Coleman, Collins and Smith.

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