[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 13, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H13539-H13542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SUPPORT FOR THE MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF POLISH JEWS ACT OF 2007

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass

[[Page H13540]]

the bill (H.R. 3320) to provide assistance for the Museum of the 
History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, Poland.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3320

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Support for the Museum of 
     the History of Polish Jews Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) Current and future generations benefit greatly by 
     visible reminders and documentation of the historical and 
     cultural roots of their society.
       (2) It is in the national interest of the United States to 
     encourage the preservation and protection of artifacts 
     associated with the heritage of United States citizens who 
     trace their forbearers to other countries and to encourage 
     the collection and dissemination of knowledge about that 
     heritage.
       (3) According to the 2000 United States Census, nearly 
     9,000,000 Americans are of Polish ancestry.
       (4) At the beginning of World War II, Poland had the 
     largest Jewish population in Europe.
       (5) In 1996, Yeshayahu Weinberg, a founding director of Tel 
     Aviv's Diaspora Museum and the United States Holocaust 
     Memorial Museum, created an international team of experts 
     with the goal of establishing a Museum of the History of 
     Polish Jews.
       (6) The Museum of the History of Polish Jews will preserve 
     and present the history of the Jewish people in Poland and 
     the wealth of their culture spanning a period of 1,000 years.
       (7) In 1997, the City of Warsaw donated a parcel of land, 
     opposite the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Memorial, for the 
     explicit use for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
       (8) In 2005, the Government of Poland and the City of 
     Warsaw agreed to provide 40,000,000 Polish zlotys for the 
     construction of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
       (9) In 2005, an international architectural competition 
     selected a Finnish firm to design the building for the Museum 
     of the History of Polish Jews.
       (10) In 2006, the building for the Museum of the History of 
     Polish Jews moved into the last phase of project design.

     SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR THE MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF POLISH 
                   JEWS.

       (a) In General.--Assistance provided by the Bureau of 
     Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State 
     shall be made available to assist in the development of the 
     permanent collection of the Museum of the History of Polish 
     Jews.
       (b) Authorization for Assistance.--To carry out the 
     purposes of subsection (a), the Secretary of State is 
     authorized to provide $5,000,000, which shall remain 
     available until expended, to the Museum for the History of 
     Polish Jews.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Bilirakis) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from American Samoa.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from American Samoa?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill 
and yield myself such time as I may consume.
  First of all, I would like to commend and thank the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Smith), my good friend and my colleague, for his 
sponsorship of this important legislation, and I also want to thank the 
distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), chairman of the 
House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the gentlewoman from Florida, our 
senior ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, for their 
support of this legislation.
  This bill that was introduced by my good friend, the gentleman from 
New Jersey, is a bill that seeks to preserve the cultural heritage of 
Poland's Jewish population. Mr. Speaker, the history of the Jewish 
people in Poland dates back over a millennium, when the country 
initially provided one of Europe's most tolerant homes for the Jewish 
people and housed one of the world's most vibrant Jewish communities. 
This tolerance waned from the 17th century onwards, as incidents of 
political and personal anti-Semitism began to increase.
  However, when Poland regained its independence in the early 20th 
century, its Jewish population remained one of the largest in the 
world. Indeed, in 1939, over 3 million of the Jewish people lived in 
Poland, comprising the largest Jewish population of any country in 
Europe. Mr. Speaker, this situation changed radically when the Nazis 
occupied Poland, as over 90 percent of Poland's Jewish population was 
brutally killed or murdered and tortured during the Holocaust. Of the 
few who survived, around 200,000 people, most emigrated from Poland. 
Many came to the United States, while others fled to Israel and South 
America.
  Mr. Speaker, estimates of Poland's Jewish population range from 3,500 
to 15,000, out of a total population of over 38 million. This 
dramatically reduced post-war Jewish population has led to some false 
claims that there were no Jews in Poland. Given the long history of 
Poland's Jews, combined with the tragic decline of their population 
during the Holocaust, it is singularly important that steps are taken 
to preserve and protect their cultural heritage. Indeed, the nearly 9 
million Americans who claim Polish lineage will benefit from visible 
reminders of their forebearers.
  Mr. Speaker, for almost over 10 years now, a team of international 
experts has worked tirelessly to establish a Museum of the History of 
the Polish Jews for this very purpose. This museum aims to preserve the 
history and culture of Jewish people in Poland over the last 1,000 
years, beginning with their 11th century emigration from Western Europe 
to escape persecution in their vibrant community between the world 
wars.
  Mr. Speaker, the City of Warsaw and the Polish Government have been 
active supporters and contributors to this project. In 1997, the city 
donated the land near the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Memorial on which to 
construct this new museum. This area is located in Warsaw's former 
Jewish quarter, which previously housed a thriving community of about 
400,000 Jewish people.
  Mr. Speaker, in 2005, two years ago, the city and the government 
donated 40 million zlotys, currently worth about $14.5 million, for the 
museum's construction. In the year 2005, again, two years ago, a 
Finnish architectural firm was selected to design the project. In June 
of this year, Polish authorities broke ground at the site. Construction 
is expected to take two years, enabling the museum to open by the year 
2010.
  This bill authorizes U.S. funding to assist in the development of the 
permanent collection of the museum. This money will ensure the 
protection of artifacts documenting the heritage of the Jewish Polish 
people and many of their descendants who currently live in the United 
States.
  Museum organizers have already asked the people of Poland to donate 
memorabilia to the project, collecting photographs, documents, and 
other remaining items. One such object includes a penknife provided by 
a woman whose father, a forced laborer in a Nazi arms factory, obtained 
from a fellow prisoner who had received it as a bar mitzvah gift. 
American funding will help these efforts.
  I strongly support this bill and ask my colleagues to join me in 
ensuring the preservation of such a rich cultural legacy.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3320, a measure to 
provide support for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which was 
introduced by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), my good 
friend. This bill would authorize funding to assist in the development 
of the permanent collection of the Museum of the History of Polish 
Jews.
  As we all know, the knowledge of history is tremendously important, 
both to understand our heritage and to our efforts to ensure that 
mistakes made in the past are avoided now and in the future. The Jewish 
people have a long and rich history in Poland. In fact, at the 
beginning of World War II, Poland had the largest Jewish population in 
Europe. Tragically, almost all of that population in Poland was 
murdered in the Holocaust.
  The Polish Government has donated land and has also agreed to provide

[[Page H13541]]

millions of dollars for construction of the museum. I ask my colleagues 
to support this bill, which would go on to assist in the development of 
the museum's collection. The tremendously rich 1,000-year history of 
the Jewish people in Poland should not be forgotten, Mr. Speaker. I 
urge my colleagues to pass this bill, and I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the sponsor of this bill, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend and 
colleague Mr. Bilirakis for yielding and Chairman Faleomavaega for his 
very strong words in support of this legislation; Tom Lantos, the 
chairman of our committee; and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who were very 
strong supporters and backers of the bill before us today as well.
  Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of World War II, Poland had the largest 
Jewish population in Europe. Over 50 percent of world Jewry has family 
ties to this pre-war community. Tragically, as a result of the 
Holocaust, a once thriving community was virtually destroyed.
  In 1996, a group of people developed the idea for a museum dedicated 
to the culture, art and history of Poland's Jews. As one of the 
founders of the museum told me when I visited Warsaw a couple of years 
ago, We often learn how Jews died, but rarely how they lived. The 
Museum of the History of Polish Jews will change this. Indeed, it will 
solemnly remember the 3 million Polish Jews who died during the 
Holocaust and World War II, but also it will celebrate the rich 1,000 
years of Polish Jewish life.
  The interactive museum will allow visitors to view the long history 
of Jews in Poland in context, examining their lives through nine 
thematic galleries that illustrate their culture, their 
accomplishments, and the challenges they faced. The museum will measure 
14,000 square feet and incorporate state-of-the-art multimedia 
installations that showcase the museum's collection, an archive of over 
60,000 computer files of images collected from around the world. The 
nine galleries that house the museum's core exhibition provide 43,000 
square feet of space that will be equipped with the latest technology 
to showcase a variety of multimedia displays. These exhibitions are 
being developed by a team of scholars, historians and museum experts 
from Poland, Israel, and the United States.
  A crown jewel of the museum and a key element to serving the public 
will be the 5,400 square-foot state-of-the-art education center that 
includes a resource center for visitors. Multimedia displays and Web-
based kiosks will share the museum's data base of 60,000 documents and 
objects with visitors, who will also have access to a reading room as 
well as a library.
  Today, Mr. Speaker, despite the robust efforts of many good people, 
anti-Semitism remains a dangerous and a growing force in Europe and 
elsewhere in the world. By looking at the life of Polish Jewry and also 
documenting the events of the Holocaust, the museum and its educational 
center will make a major contribution in combating anti-Semitism. A 
better understanding of the great contributions that Polish Jews have 
made to society will help fight off the ignorance and the lies that 
bring about this bigotry.
  There is no better time for a living monument to stand against anti-
Semitism than now, and no better place than in the heart of Europe, the 
place where the Nazis put so many Jews to death. In 1997, the City of 
Warsaw donated land adjacent to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Monument for 
the construction of this museum. In June of 2007, authorities broke 
ground for its construction. It is now slated for opening in 2010, but 
there still is a significant deficit in funding.
  It is one of the first institutions in post-European Poland to be 
built through a partnership of public and private support. The 
Government of Poland and the City of Warsaw have each designated some 
$15 million for the museum, and a number of private corporations and 
individuals from Israel, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, 
and elsewhere, of course that includes the United States, have also 
agreed to contribute. Just yesterday, the Government of Germany signed 
an agreement to donate over $7 million to the effort. All donors are 
united in preserving the memory of a magnificent people, who have made 
such a positive difference, and to combat the rising ugly tide of anti-
Semitism.
  As you can imagine, it's a costly and difficult project to assemble 
artifacts and memorabilia from Polish Jewry. Not only did the Nazis 
systematically destroy Jewish men, women and children, they sought to 
erase all memory of a noble people. The Nazis also decimated most of 
the City of Warsaw. Our contribution of $5 million will be more than 
just a symbol of American commitment to these principles, although that 
is important. It will be more than a reminder of the historical ties 
that bind many descendants of Polish Jews in the United States and 
elsewhere to Polish Jewry, although that, too, is a worthy goal. This 
contribution will be an important aid in making this project a reality. 
It will help bring it to completion.
  I urge support for H.R. 3320. As one supporter called this, this is a 
``restitution of memory.''
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I want to compliment and commend my 
good friend from New Jersey for a most eloquent statement. Whenever he 
speaks, I listen; not only as a great advocate and champion of human 
rights throughout the world, but I cannot think of a more appropriate 
piece of legislation where his mark is made to the fact that the 
persecutions that took place among the Jewish people during World War 
II. Again, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for his efforts in 
bringing this piece of legislation to the floor for consideration.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H. Res. 
3320, introduced by my friend and colleague, Mr. Smith of New Jersey. 
This bill would authorize the United States to provide $5 million to 
assist in the development of the permanent collection of the Museum of 
the History of Polish Jews.
  This past May, I had the opportunity to travel to Poland and, while 
there, met with Jerzy Halbersztadt, the director of the museum, and Ewa 
Wierzynska, the deputy director. The museum they are helping to 
establish is truly an historical undertaking and one that deserves the 
support of the United States.
  Warsaw was once home to the largest Jewish community in Europe, and 
if we are to truly understand what was lost in the Holocaust, we must 
try to wrap our minds not only around the figure of 6 million, but 
around the 1,000 years of Polish Jewish life that preceded that 
tragedy. Poland is not only a place where Jews died, but a place where 
they lived and flourished. Moreover, it is estimated that 80 percent of 
all Jews and over nine million Americans trace some of their ancestry 
to the Polish Jewish community. This museum has the potential to touch 
the lives of our own citizens in deeply personal ways.
  As chairman of the Helsinki Commission, I am heartened by the 
educational role this museum can play in fulfilling the goals that the 
OSCE participating States have undertaken in the field of combating 
anti-Semitism. I believe this museum will contribute to tolerance and 
mutual respect in Poland, will help counter the broader phenomenon of 
anti-Semitism in Europe, and will serve as an inspiration to the 
thousands of visitors who will come every year. The historical record 
of the Polish Jewish community must be preserved and shared with future 
generations.
  Unfortunately, my own schedule did not permit me to return to Poland 
for the June 26 groundbreaking ceremony for the museum, which will be 
located in the heart of the pre-World War II Jewish district and next 
to the monument to the Jews who resisted the Nazis during the 1943 
ghetto uprising. However, I did send a member of the Helsinki 
Commission staff, who witnessed firsthand the extraordinary turnout for 
this event. Among those present was the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv Meir 
Lau, whose parents were from Poland and who suggested that invited 
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has denied the Holocaust, be 
among the first to visit the museum.
  I don't know if the Iranian President will accept this invitation, 
but I have no doubt that many Americans will be among the 500,000 
people who are expected to visit the museum on an annual basis. I urge 
my colleagues to join me in supporting this extraordinary museum, with 
an extraordinary mission.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

[[Page H13542]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3320.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. 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.

                          ____________________