[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 21 (Tuesday, March 1, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H803-H804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   PERMITTING USE OF ROTUNDA OF CAPITOL FOR COMMEMORATION OF DAYS OF 
              REMEMBRANCE OF VICTIMS OF HOLOCAUST CEREMONY

  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 63) permitting the use of the 
rotunda of the Capitol for a ceremony as part of the commemoration of 
the days of remembrance of victims of the Holocaust.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 63

       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), 

     SECTION 1. USE OF ROTUNDA FOR HOLOCAUST DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE 
                   CEREMONY.

       The rotunda of the Capitol is authorized to be used on May 
     5, 2005, for a ceremony as part of the commemoration of the 
     days of remembrance of victims of the Holocaust. Physical 
     preparations for the ceremony shall be carried out in 
     accordance with such conditions as the Architect of the 
     Capitol may prescribe.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Ney) and the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney).
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to be on the floor here today with the 
gentlewoman from Nevada on an important resolution, H. Con. Res. 63.
  The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is mandated by Congress 
to educate Americans about the history of the Holocaust and to annually 
honor and remember the victims of this catastrophic, horrible event. As 
a Nation, we do this on the National Days of Remembrance. The purpose 
of the Days of Remembrance is to ask all Americans to reflect on the 
Holocaust, to remember the victims and renew our commitment to 
democracy and human rights for every person.
  House Concurrent Resolution 63, the resolution before us, will 
provide this year's national ceremony, which will be conducted on May 
5, 2005, in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol building.
  Mr. Speaker, it is necessary to go through this procedure to use the 
very sacred center of the Capitol for a ceremony in joint authorization 
by both the House and the other body because of the significance of 
this particular location and the significance and importance in this 
building.
  Outlining the importance of this event, there have been several high-
profile keynote speakers in the past, including former Secretary of 
State Colin Powell, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President 
George W. Bush, among others.
  The theme of this year's Days of Remembrance commemoration is 
entitled ``From Liberation to the Pursuit of Justice.'' The 
commemoration will honor the courageous individuals, as well as the 
organizations and countries who attempted to rescue them. How 
appropriate I believe it is, Mr. Speaker, at this time that we remember 
the victims of the Holocaust.
  In remembering those who took a determined stance against Nazism, we 
honor the memory of those who perished, and, of course, we are reminded 
that individuals do have the power and the choice to make a difference 
in the fight against oppression and murderous hatred.
  Evil persists in the world, Mr. Speaker, but our triumph over the 
perpetrators of the Holocaust reminds us that evil can and will be 
defeated, but only if we have the courage to stand up to it. This is a 
vital lesson, one we must never forget. This ceremony will help us to 
remember it. This ceremony is important.
  Again, I want to thank the gentlewoman for supporting this 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today proudly in support of House Concurrent 
Resolution 63, authorizing use of the Capitol Rotunda on May 5 of this 
year for a ceremony sponsored by its United States Holocaust Memorial 
Council to observe the Days of Remembrance for victims of the 
Holocaust.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) for introducing 
this, as well as the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-
McDonald), the original cosponsor of the bill. Unfortunately, she could 
not be here because of a prior commitment in her congressional 
district.
  The Days of Remembrance ceremony honors those men, women and children 
who suffered through one of the darkest periods of our history. Every 
year, the Days of Remembrance recalls different historical events of 
the Holocaust. This year's theme, ``From Liberation to Pursuit of 
Justice,'' commemorates the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the 
concentration camps and the persecution of war criminals at Nuremberg, 
Germany.
  For over 20 years, Congress has approved the use of the Rotunda for 
this ceremony each spring and every year that I attend I am struck by 
the two competing feelings that I have: One, the shocking realization 
that man's inhumanity to man sometimes seems to know no bounds; that a 
mere 60 years ago, 6 million Jews were exterminated throughout the 
world, their only transgression being the fact that they were Jewish.

                              {time}  1430

  But I am also struck by the incredible realization that 60 years 
after the most heinous episode in our civilized world's history here we 
still are. We are not only survivors, but we have managed to thrive. 
Every year those who have survived and thrived, their children and 
grandchildren and now their great grandchildren, gather under the dome 
of the United States Capitol, the very seat of power of the most 
important and strongest nation in the world.

[[Page H804]]

  I am second-generation American. My grandparents literally walked 
across Europe to come to this country. My mother's side comes from 
Salonika, Greece. Prior to World War II, prior to the Nazis, there were 
approximately 80,000 Jews in Salonika. When the Nazis finished with 
those Jews, there were only 1,000 left. And I am not presumptuous 
enough to presume to think that my family would have been among those 
that were chosen to live.
  My father's side from the Russia-Poland border after hundreds and 
hundreds of years of a thriving culture and civilization were 
obliterated, exterminated in this Holocaust. Nobody remained. Not the 
towns. Not the people. Not the culture. But here we are 60 years after 
the Holocaust. Here I am, a Jewish American, elected to serve her 
community and her country in the United States Congress, standing on 
the floor of the United States House of Representatives, alive and 
free, supporting the resolution honoring those that were lost.
  This past January I had the privilege of attending the ceremony 
commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz. I attended it as part of a 
congressional delegation. As I walked in the freezing cold and the snow 
the mile from Auschwitz to Birkenau where the ceremony was taking 
place, we were surrounded by survivors that were in Auschwitz as 
children. Now in their late 70s and 80s, each one of them was anxious 
to talk and tell us when they had been there, what it was like, who 
they had lost, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, entire families 
obliterated. But there we were. And as we sat there for the few hours 
for that extraordinary ceremony commemorating that liberation of 
Auschwitz and the concentration camps, I was struck by the fact that it 
was truly a miracle that anybody had survived, because there I was 
sitting with four pairs of socks, boots, a hat, two pairs of gloves, 
four sweaters, a warm jacket and sitting under a blanket and freezing 
wondering how these people, how these extraordinary people managed to 
survive one day. Forget the gas chambers, forget the gruesome medical 
experiments, forget the random acts of man's inhumanity to man, the 
incredibility cruelty. Surviving day to day with no clothes, with no 
blankets, with no food is truly a testament to those people who managed 
to survive.
  The ceremony we are authorizing today honors Holocaust survivors and 
those lost loved ones. It will also serve as a reminder that we must 
continue as a civilized people to battle hate and prejudice and 
violence and demand justice and humanity to all. It does not matter 
culture, ethnicity, religion, color of our skin. We all deserve to be 
treated as human beings with dignity. We must not allow this tragedy to 
ever be repeated again.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting passage of this 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to note that I do not have any further speakers 
at this time on this bill, but I would note that due to the weather 
conditions a lot of people are not here; otherwise, we have many, many 
Members who support this and would be speaking on this. Even though 
they could not get here in time, many Members' thoughts in support of 
this resolution are with us now on the floor.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my 
support of H. Con. Res. 63, to allow the use of the Capitol rotunda for 
a ceremony to commemorate victims of the Holocaust. Our Nation's 
Capitol is a symbol of freedom and democracy to so many. This 
resolution gives us a forum to pay service to the victims of the 
Holocaust. I pray that such a tragedy should never touch the world 
again.
  A Holocaust memorial is not something to be taken lightly, or to be 
rushed without its due respect. The Holocaust is a product of 
authoritarian government and evil intentions, and we must continue to 
study and remember it, lest it be repeated. Hate, genocide, racial 
supremacism still occur in parts of the world and I believe that we as 
Americans can still focus our efforts on stopping them before they grow 
to an uncontrollable magnitude.
  My heart goes out to the victims and survivors of Adolf Hitler's 
death camps. Every time I reexamine the Holocaust, and pay tribute to 
what happened, I am still shocked and pained by the organized, 
methodical killing that went on in Europe.
  For the 12 million people that Nazi Germany exterminated, we must 
remember. For each of the 6 million Jews killed, we must respond. For 
the Gypsies, the gays, the political dissenters and any of the 
righteous people who spoke out against what they thought was evil--for 
this we commemorate and remember the Holocaust. It can never happen 
again.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 
63.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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