[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E880-E881]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  URGING ALL MEMBER COUNTRIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF THE 
     INTERNATIONAL TRACING SERVICE TO EXPEDITE RATIFICATION PROCESS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 25, 2007

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of 
H. Res. 240, which urges all member countries of the International 
Commission of the International Tracing Service, ITS, who have yet to 
ratify the May 2006 amendments to the 1955 Bonn Accords Treaty, to 
expedite the ratification process to allow for open access to the 
Holocaust archives located at Bad Arolsen, Germany.
  The Holocaust was not a random act of mass murder but a systematic 
campaign of genocide carried out by the Nazis against the Jews. The 
world must never forget the more than 6 million Jews who perished in 
the Holocaust. In total, the atrocities were more than 60 percent of 
the pre-World War II Jewish population of Europe.
  We must never forget the evil acts that happened during that era and 
we must continue the fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry, 
prejudice, discrimination and anti-Semitism in every form today.
  After over 60 years, the Holocaust is still a presence, and there are 
living memorials all over the world dedicated to the memory of those 
who so cruelly lost their freedom and their lives, and to the 
continuing education to conquer prejudice, hatred, and injustice. As we 
allow for open access to the Holocaust archives, we remind the world 
that the Holocaust indeed was a sad part of our world's history, should 
anyone doubt its existence. As recently as December 2006, the President 
of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, held the second Holocaust denial 
conference in Tehran in 1 year. The time to act is now. The opening of 
the archives at Bad Arolsen could not be more opportune, especially 
with the resurgence of anti-Semitism in this part of the world.

  The International Tracing Service (ITS) archives located in Bad 
Arolsen, Germany, remain the largest closed Holocaust-era archives in 
the world. The 50,000,000 records on the fates of some 17,500,000 
individual victims of Nazi war crimes will forever be memorialized, 
reminding the world of the travesty and devastation that occurred in 
Nazi Germany. There have been too many instances of survivors and heirs 
of Holocaust victims being refused their moral and legal right to 
information--for restitution purposes, slave labor compensation, and 
personal closure.
  Problems persist when those who have requested information in the 
past have reported facing significant delays and even unresponsiveness; 
furthermore, the records remain inaccessible to researchers and 
research institutions.
  The 1955 Bonn Accords established an International Commission of 11 
member countries, which includes the United States, and is charged with 
overseeing the administration of the ITS Holocaust archives. The 
amendments to the Bonn Accords require each of the 11 members of the 
International Commission to ratify the amendments before open access to 
the Holocaust archives is permitted.
  The International Commission of the ITS agreed upon amendments to the 
Bonn Accords that would allow researchers to use the archives and would 
allow each Commission member country to receive digitized copies of 
archive materials and make the records available to researchers under 
the respective national laws relating to archives and privacy. Only 4 
members out of the 11 Commission member countries have ratified the 
amendments to date. Although the United States is one of the 4 members 
that have ratified the amendment, there are 7 member countries that 
have yet to ratify. It is imperative that these 7 member nations ratify 
the amendment because it is essential that Holocaust researchers obtain 
access now, while survivors are living. I join my colleagues in urging 
all countries that have yet to ratify the amendments to abide by their 
treaty obligations made in May 2006 and to expedite the ratification of 
these amendments.
  The murder of 6,000,000 Jews and more than 5,000,000 other victims 
during the Holocaust must not be forgotten. We must remember those who 
survived the unprecedented horrors of the Holocaust and those who were 
not so fortunate to survive the evils committed by the Nazis. I 
strongly urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 240.

[[Page E881]]



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