[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 53 (Thursday, April 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E642]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATION OF YOM HASHOAH, AND UPCOMING OSCE CONFERENCE ON ANTI-
                                SEMITISM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 22, 2004

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Yom Hashoah, 
Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, which memorializes the 
six million Jews murdered by the Nazis during their campaign of 
genocide in World War II. We mourn the innocent lives lost and vibrant 
communities destroyed while the world shamefully stood silent, and 
honor those heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto who faced certain death when 
they refused to submit to the Nazi's planned extermination of their 
community.
  To this day, Mr. Speaker, many European countries have failed to 
right the past wrongs of the Holocaust by failing to adequately redress 
the wrongful confiscation of property by the Nazi and communist 
regimes. These seizures took place over decades; they were part of the 
modus operandi of repressive, totalitarian regimes; and they affected 
millions of people. The passage of time, border changes, and population 
shifts are only a few of the things that make the wrongful property 
seizures of the past such difficult problems to address today.
  While I recognize that many obstacles stand in the way of righting 
these past wrongs, I do not believe that these challenges make property 
restitution or compensation impossible. On the contrary, I believe much 
more should have been done--and can still be done now-while our elderly 
Holocaust survivors are still living.
  Today I also want to sound the alarm about a disturbing trend that 
Jews face today: a rising tide of anti-Semitism throughout the world.
  I serve as the Ranking Member of the Commission on Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), commonly known as the Helsinki 
Commission. Later today I will travel to Europe as part of the U.S. 
Delegation to several meetings of the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a fifty-five national regional security 
organization which includes Europe, Central Asia, and North America. 
The Helsinki Commission has held multiple hearings on this issue, and 
the House and Senate have adopted resolutions strongly condemning this 
rising tide of anti-Semitism, as has the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
  As part of my upcoming Helsinki Commission trip, I will travel to 
Warsaw, Krakow, and then to the death camps at Auschwitz, to see 
firsthand the remains of the factories of intolerance, hate, and death. 
From there I will travel to an OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism, which 
will also be attended by Secretary of State Colin Powell. I will then 
return to the United States, where I will host a group of constituents 
at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
  The Berlin Conference will be instrumental in the battle against 
anti-Semitism, as elected officials, government leaders and executives 
of non-governmental organizations come together to discuss how to fight 
this destructive evil. Anti-Semitism still afflicts societies 
throughout the world, including the United States. While we have made 
some progress in moving governments to respond through public 
denunciations and vigorous law enforcement, there is much more we can 
do to confront and combat anti-Semitism. The Conference will 
specifically address the roles of governments, civil society, education 
and the media in combating prejudice and in promoting tolerance.
  As we commemorate Yom Hashoah, let us honor the memory of those who 
perished in the Holocaust by pledging to fight intolerance, hate 
crimes, and violence in our community and around the world. We shall 
never be silent again.

                          ____________________