[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 155 (Thursday, October 30, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13696-S13697]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         A TRIBUTE TO SURVIVORS

  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be 
discharged from further consideration of S. Con. Res. 76 and the Senate 
proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the concurrent resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 76) recognizing that 
     November 2, 2003, shall be dedicated to A Tribute to 
     Survivors at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 
the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the 
table en bloc, and that any statements relating to the resolution be 
printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 76) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            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.'';
       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

[[Page S13697]]

     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.

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