[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 133 (Wednesday, December 6, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H8866-H8868]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONDEMNING IRAN'S COMMITMENT TO HOLD INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST DENIAL
CONFERENCE
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree
to the resolution (H. Res. 1091) condemning in the strongest terms
Iran's commitment to hold an international Holocaust denial conference
on December 11-12, 2006, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 1091
Whereas Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expressed
his intention to hold an international Holocaust denial
conference entitled ``Study of Holocaust: A Global
Perspective'', to begin on December 11, 2006, in Tehran;
Whereas in August 2006, Iran staged an international
contest of cartoons on the Holocaust, endorsing and promoting
prevailing anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli stereotypes and
Holocaust denial;
Whereas Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote in a letter in July 2006
to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, ``Is it not a reasonable
possibility that some countries that had won the war (World
War II) made up this excuse to constantly embarrass the
defeated people . . . to bar their progress.'';
Whereas on October 26, 2005, in a conference entitled,
``The World without Zionism'', President Ahmadinejad stated
in a speech that ``Israel must be wiped off the map.'';
Whereas thereafter, these anti-Semitic comments were
broadly condemned by the United Nations and others, including
in a measure passed by a unanimous vote of the United States
House of Representatives on October 28, 2005;
Whereas Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's current intent to host an
international Holocaust denial conference is only the latest
in a series of threatening, anti-Semitic, Holocaust denial
statements and actions he has undertaken since assuming
power;
Whereas to deny the Holocaust's occurrence is in itself an
act of anti-Semitism;
Whereas one who denies the Holocaust, denies the greatest
modern tragedy of the Jewish people and the most extreme act
of anti-Semitism in modern history;
Whereas Ahmadinejad's statements and actions occur in the
midst of Iran's relentless defiance of the international
community by rejecting nuclear nonproliferation standards and
the latest United Nations Security Council demand that Iran
immediately halt its efforts to enrich uranium; and
Whereas the longstanding policy of the Iranian regime aimed
at destroying the democratic State of Israel, highlighted by
statements made by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, underscores the
threat posed by a nuclear Iran: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns in the strongest terms Iran's commitment to
hold an international holocaust denial conference on December
11-12, 2006, and any and all anti-Semitic statements made by
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranian
leaders;
(2) reaffirms the United States commitment to prevent a
nuclear Iran;
(3) calls on the United Nations to officially and publicly
repudiate all of Iran's anti-Semitic statements made at such
conference and hold accountable United Nations member states
that encourage or echo such statements;
(4) calls on the United Nations Security Council to
strengthen its commitment to taking measures necessary to
prevent Iran from possessing nuclear power;
(5) reaffirms the United States longstanding friendship
with and support for the State of Israel; and
(6) vows to never forget the murder of millions in the
Holocaust and affirms its commitment to ensuring that such
genocide never happen again.
[[Page H8867]]
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from California (Mr.
Lantos) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 1091
authored by my good friend from Florida, Mr. Alcee Hastings.
This resolution does some very important things, Mr. Speaker. It
condemns Iran's commitment to hold an international Holocaust denial
conference next week.
The Iranian leadership has been the source of vile and appalling
anti-Semitic statements denying the Holocaust and calling for Israel to
be wiped off the map. Iran's commitment to hold an international
Holocaust denial conference reaffirms the radical regime's hateful
policy aimed at destroying the State of Israel.
Iran's continued defiance of the international nuclear
nonproliferation standards and its unrelenting support of the Shiite
insurgents in Iraq as well as terror groups like Hezbollah and Hamas
clearly indicates that Iran's reprehensible statements are more than
mere rhetoric. The hateful words of the extremist regimes must be taken
seriously.
This resolution by Mr. Hastings condemns Ahmadinejad's stated intent
to hold the Holocaust denial conference and calls on the United Nations
to officially repudiate all of Iran's anti-Semitic statements and hold
accountable United Nations member nations that promote such hateful
statements.
Moreover, Mr. Hastings' resolution reaffirms the commitment of the
United States to prevent Iran from achieving its nuclear ambitions and
vows to never forget the murder of millions in the Holocaust.
To ensure that the atrocities of the Holocaust must never happen
again, it is critical that the world community in a united and cohesive
manner condemns in the strongest form possible the actions and the
statements of those who deny the Holocaust while actively planning yet
another one.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume,
and I rise in strong support of this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, first I want to acknowledge the efforts of the
Democratic sponsor of this important measure, my friend and colleague
from Florida, Congressman Hastings, who is well known as a strong
fighter in the battle against all forms of bigotry, including racism
and anti-Semitism.
This was particularly evident in his distinguished term as president
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe when a
number of conferences on anti-Semitism were held with his support and
sponsorship.
Mr. Speaker, the resolution before the House today condemns in the
strongest terms Iran's commitment to hold an international Holocaust
denial conference next week. The conference, entitled ``Study of
Holocaust: A Global Perspective,'' is clearly designed to spread the
notion that the systematic state-sponsored murder of 6 million innocent
men, women and children, principally Jews and other targeted groups by
Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II, was either an
exaggeration or a fabrication.
As the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, I am
outraged at attempts to deny what I know from firsthand experience to
be tragically true.
Let me be very clear: Despite Ahmadinejad's lunatic statements, the
Holocaust did happen. Six million innocent Jews and people from other
targeted groups were slaughtered in this genocide. I personally
suffered through it, and I lost virtually my entire family in this
historic horror.
We all remember, Mr. Speaker, George Santayana's famous statement
that ``those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.''
Iran's Ahmadinejad not only wants the world to forget the past, he also
wants it to be revised in the hope that history will be repeated with
the destruction of Israel and the Jews. He clearly and forcefully
demonstrated this at a conference in October 2005 when he stated,
``Israel must be wiped off the map.''
Last July Ahmadinejad spread more deception and anti-Western and
anti-Israel propaganda when he sent a letter to Chancellor Angela
Merkel of Germany suggesting that some countries who won World War II
might have fabricated the Holocaust to embarrass the German people and
bar their progress.
In August, Mr. Speaker, Iran held an outrageous international contest
of cartoons on the Holocaust to endorse and promote anti-Semitic and
anti-Israeli stereotypes, as well as Holocaust denial. We can see that
his hosting this Holocaust denial conference next week is just one more
abominable step in Ahmadinejad's ugly journey to undermine the West,
promote global anti-Semitism and destroy Israel.
Ahmadinejad's declarations and actions are frightening not only to
Israel but to the entire civilized world. Iran supports terrorist
groups bent on destroying Israel and the West. Even more serious is the
fact that Iran has defied the international community by rejecting
nuclear nonproliferation standards and the United Nations Security
Council's demand that Iran halt its efforts to enrich uranium. Thus, in
the future, we could be facing an Iran prepared to use nuclear weapons
to achieve its appalling destructive goals.
Mr. Speaker, this powerful resolution not only condemns these
outrageous Iranian actions, it also calls for the United Nations to
officially and publicly repudiate Iran's anti-Semitic statements. U.N.
member states that echo and encourage such statements should also be
held accountable. As we all know, too many U.N. conferences and
resolutions have been hijacked irresponsibly to promote the same anti-
Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric and actions. I personally saw this
happen in Durban, South Africa during a conference against so-called
``racism'' 6 years ago which was hijacked by extremists who used that
conference to denounce the State of Israel.
Mr. Speaker, we also must continue our efforts to prevent Iran from
becoming a nuclear power and to condemn its outrageous and destructive
goals of destroying our ally Israel and other Western targets.
{time} 2015
Finally, Mr. Speaker, we must remind the world that in spite of the
lies by revisionist historians and Ahmadinejad, the Holocaust in fact
did occur, and millions suffered and 6 million died.
As we see from the ongoing atrocities in Sudan, the Holocaust saying
of ``never again'' unfortunately has not proved to be true. Thus we
must recommit to do all we can to stop Holocaust denial, remember the
past, and in doing so, not be condemned to repeat it. We must do all we
can to stop mass murder and genocide whenever and wherever it occurs,
as it does today in Darfur.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, at this time I am pleased to yield
such time as he may consume to one of our leaders on the International
Relations Committee, Mr. Burton of Indiana.
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding.
I cannot imagine anybody denying the Holocaust. Anyone who has been
to Israel and seen the Holocaust Museum or been to the Holocaust Museum
here could have no doubt about the tragic events that took place by
Nazi Germany in World War II.
But what I would like to talk about in addition to that right now is
some of the things that are going on right now that bother me a great
deal, that parallel this. In August of 1939 Soviet Foreign Minister
Molotov stunned the world by signing the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
under the watchful eyes of German Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop and
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. They signed that nonaggression pact and
what it guaranteed was that there would not be a war on two fronts.
That was what Hitler wanted. And then Lord Chamberlain went to Munich
and signed an agreement saying he would give away the Sudetenland in
exchange for peace, and what happened was we had a war that killed 62
million people. Sixty-two million people.
We are now in the Nuclear Age, and this leader in Iran who is denying
that
[[Page H8868]]
the Holocaust did not occur is hell-bent for leather to create another
holocaust which, in my opinion, could kill hundreds of millions of
people, not 62 million but hundreds of millions of people, by using
nuclear weapons. And it is of great concern to me the things that he
has been saying. Ayatollah Khomeini referred to the United States when
he was alive as the ``Great Satan.'' The current leader and strongman,
Ayatollah Khameneh'i, has ruled out any possible kind of relationship
with the United States, calling us the ``Great Satan.'' And on October
26, 2005, addressing a conference in Tehran entitled ``The World
Without Zionism,'' Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, said Israel must
be wiped off the map, described Israel as a ``disgraceful blot on the
face of the Islamic world'' and declared that ``anybody,'' including
the United States, ``who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the
Islamic national fury.'' He went on to say, ``To those who doubt, to
those who ask is it possible, or those who do not believe, I say
accomplishment of a world without America and Israel is both possible
and feasible.'' And then, quoting the Ayatollah Khomeini, he said,
``Israel must be wiped off'' the face of the Earth, ``from the map of
the world, and with the help of the Almighty, we shall soon experience
a world without America or Zionism, notwithstanding those who doubt.''
Now, today the Baker-Hamilton Commission indicated that we must start
talking to Iran and others in the region. I have never been against
talking, but it is distressful to me at a time when they are hell-bent
to develop a nuclear program, a nuclear weapons program, and the whole
world cannot stop them from doing it, that there should be dialogue
with them. It is analogous to saying to Adolph Hitler, after he invaded
Poland, ``We want to deal with you.'' They tried that. Stalin tried it.
Chamberlain tried it. And 62 million people died.
What we need to do right now is do whatever it takes to make sure
there is not another holocaust. Whatever it takes. And that means
making absolutely sure that people who are hell-bent to destroy Israel
and the United States and Europe, if they don't agree with their
religious beliefs, that they are stopped from developing nuclear
weapons. We must not let them develop nuclear weapons.
This resolution deals with the Holocaust that did occur, and what I
am talking about is a holocaust that we do not want to occur. And the
best way to make sure that does not happen is to make sure that the
President of Iran and the ayatollahs over there do not get nuclear
weaponry.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he may
consume to the distinguished author of this resolution, my good friend
from Florida, Congressman Hastings.
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend Tom
Lantos, who has been stalwart in fighting not only anti-Semitism but
bigotry throughout this world.
I would like to start by saying that I am very grateful for the
bipartisan cooperation of many House leaders to ensure that this
important legislation was so promptly brought to the House floor. In
particular, I would like to thank my good friends and colleagues, the
majority leader, John Boehner; Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi; of course,
as I have mentioned, my extremely good friend and mentor, the incoming
chair of the House International Relations Committee, the distinguished
gentleman from California, Tom Lantos; the current chair of the
Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia; and my fellow
Floridian and very, very good friend and colleague and classmate and
ally in a number of mutual efforts on behalf of our respective
constituencies; and the ranking Democratic member, Gary Ackerman from
New York.
I sincerely appreciate the assistance of all of these colleagues in
allowing me to introduce this legislation and bring it to the floor for
a vote on the second-to-last day of the legislative year and,
importantly, prior to the occurrence of this nasty conference.
The haste with which this bill was brought to the floor and its
bipartisan support is a clear testament to the importance this
congressional body places on public condemnation of anti-Semitism
worldwide and the desire of congressional leaders to rid the globe of
the scourge of anti-Semitism.
The commitment of Iranian President Ahmadinejad and other Iranian
leaders to hold a Holocaust denial conference on December 11 of this
month is unabashed, reprehensible anti-Semitism at its worst. I learned
about this 2 weeks ago at a conference in Malta. And to the man and
woman that were there, everyone condemned this action.
More than 70 years ago, a different leader from a different nation
rose to power based on his open hatred of a particular group of people.
He started by forcing Jews to identify themselves with the Star of
David on their clothing and enacting restrictive laws for Jewish
shopkeepers. He ended his crusade, ``the final solution,'' with the
mass murder of 6 million or more Jews in extermination camps.
I would recommend to Mr. Ahmadinejad that he do as some of us have
done in the past, not even requiring of him that he meet in this
Congress our only Holocaust survivor, who in fact suffered
immeasurably, as did his family and friends and colleagues, at the
hands of this kind of hatred. I would recommend to him that he do as I
did: visit Auschwitz and Treblinka, and perhaps it would be there that
he may come to learn of the horrors that so many people were confronted
with.
If ``never again'' means anything to us now, then we cannot ignore
this latest egregious act of anti-Semitism. The world will not turn its
back to President Ahmadinejad and Iranian leaders' anti-Semitic, anti-
Israel, and anti-U.S. public acts and statements. The same country that
spews such hatred towards Jews is also on a determined path towards
nuclear weapon possession. But that is a whole different conflict that
needs to be discussed on a whole different day.
For today I want to just end and focus on the topic of anti-Semitism.
Let Iran's second Holocaust denial conference serve as a wake-up call
for the entire international community about the endurance of anti-
Semitism in this world. As the president emeritus of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, the
world's largest regional security organization, and someone who has
traveled extensively across this globe, I am acutely aware of the
prevalence of anti-Semitism not only in Iran but worldwide. Combating
anti-Semitism fits into my world view of the importance of fighting all
types of bigotry. I have dedicated my entire professional life toward
eradicating hate spewed by racists, anti-Semites, xenophobes and
homophobes.
I greatly appreciate the fact that my colleagues recognize the
importance of a unified international condemnation of Iran's commitment
to hold another Holocaust denial conference. We have a shared
responsibility to promote awareness of injustice and preach tolerance
education if we ever are to succeed in combating this widespread
epidemic of hate.
I certainly am deeply appreciative that Mr. Lantos and Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen saw fit to permit this matter to be brought to the body.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend from Florida for
his eloquent statement.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank my good friend
from Florida, Mr. Hastings, who is a proud defender of human rights and
freedom and liberty here and abroad as well. We need more of them.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Westmoreland). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that
the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1091,
as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those voting have responded in the affirmative.
Mr. LANTOS. 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 question will
be postponed.
____________________