[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 48 (Thursday, April 27, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E661]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN RECOGNITION OF HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

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                         HON. E. CLAY SHAW, JR.

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 27, 2006

  Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Holocaust 
Remembrance Day. Holocaust Remembrance Day has been set aside as a 
tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and for reminding our nation 
that we must vigorously pursue justice for the victims of all acts of 
hatred and inhumanity, not only for their sake but for the sake of 
future generations.
  In addition, I have been concerned about the International Tracing 
Service (ITS) of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 
Bad Arolsen, Germany. Driven by frustration with the long delays and 
poor responsiveness of ITS, family members of victims of the Holocaust 
are calling for access to ITS to search for their missing family 
members. The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, which is 
the largest survivor organization in the world, has repeatedly called 
for the archives to be opened. In most instances they have received no 
response to their requests for information regarding the actual 
holdings of the ITS archives or on the issue of access. I sent a letter 
to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice requesting her to contact ITS 
and insist on making these archives available to the U.S. government 
and other related government organizations.
  ITS was established by the Allied High Command after World War II to 
assist in reuniting families that were separated by concentration camps 
and confirm the fate of family members during the war. The initial 
document collections were deposited by the United States, United 
Kingdom and France, and included captured documents and Displaced 
Persons' (DP) camp records. The 30 million pages of archival material 
related about the approximately 17 million victims of Nazism, both Jews 
and non-Jews, includes records of concentration camps, forced and slave 
labor, deportations, and DP camps. The documents have an important 
memorial function to shed new light on our intellectual understanding 
of the Holocaust and its aftermath.
  As context for all of this human tragedy, the operation of the 
concentration camps, transport and deportation systems, and 
perpetration of the Holocaust at the human, not just the statistical, 
level. All of that, and more for us to learn and seek to understand, 
lies in the ITS archives. It is so imperative for the ITS archives to 
be opened to the public. To collect all this vital information and put 
a wall up around it so no one could get in, makes a horrific crime 
worse.
  I have received a response from Secretary Rice who stated, ``[t]he 
United States supports as open access system in Bad Arolsen for 
visiting researchers. Furthermore, the United States has proposed that 
the eleven countries making up the International Commission of the ITS 
receive a digitized copy of the archives so that individual member 
States can make those documents available for research purposes under 
their respective national privacy laws.'' I am encouraged that the 
German Ambassador to the U.S. Klaus Scharioth announced on April 24, 
2006, that the German government is now our partner in getting the ITS 
archive opened and copies made as quickly as possible.
  I also rise today in recognition of the 58th anniversary of the 
independence of the State of Israel. On May 14, 1948, the State of 
Israel was established as a sovereign and independent state. I am an 
original cosponsor of a resolution to recognize this important 
anniversary. Since 1948, the United States and Israel have developed a 
close friendship based on common democratic values, religious 
affinities, and security interests. U.S.-Israeli bilateral relations 
are multidimensional. Both countries have long recognized that their 
mutual interests of deterring war, promoting stability and achieving 
peace are not far off. I am committed to maintaining the close 
relationship that the U.S. government enjoys with Israel to secure 
democracy in the Middle East.

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