[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 191 (Thursday, December 13, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S15475]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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    SENATE RESOLUTION 404--CONGRATULATING ALL MEMBER STATES OF THE 
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE INTERNATIONAL TRACING SERVICE (ITS) ON 
RATIFYING THE MAY 2006 PROTOCOL GRANTING OPEN ACCESS TO A VAST ARCHIVES 
   ON THE HOLOCAUST AND OTHER WORLD WAR II MATERIALS, LOCATED AT BAD 
                            AROLSEN, GERMANY

  Mrs. CLINTON (for herself and Mr. Nelson of Florida) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 404

       Whereas, for the past 62 years, until November 28, 2007, 
     the International Tracing Service (ITS) archives located in 
     Bad Arolsen, Germany remained the largest closed Holocaust-
     era archives in the world;
       Whereas, while Holocaust survivors and their descendants 
     have had limited access to individual records, reports 
     suggest that they faced long delays, incomplete information, 
     and even unresponsiveness when they tried to access the 
     materials in the archives;
       Whereas the 1955 Bonn Accords established the International 
     Commission (on which 11 member nations sit: Belgium, France, 
     Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, 
     Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States) 
     responsible for overseeing the administration of the ITS 
     Holocaust archives, which includes 17,500,000 individual 
     names and 50,000,000 documents;
       Whereas, until ITC received the ratification of the 2006 
     amendments to the Bonn Accords from the last remaining member 
     nation on November 28, 2007, the materials remained 
     inaccessible to researchers and research institutions;
       Whereas the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
     and the Director of the ITS, who is an ICRC employee, oversee 
     the day-to-day operations of the ITS and report to the 
     International Commission for the ITS at its annual meetings;
       Whereas the new International Committee of the Red Cross 
     leadership at the ITS should be commended for their 
     commitment to providing expedited and comprehensive responses 
     to Holocaust survivor requests for information, and for their 
     efforts to complete the digitization of all archives as soon 
     as possible;
       Whereas, since the inception of the ITS, the Government of 
     Germany has financed its operations;
       Whereas, beginning in the late 1990s, the United States 
     Holocaust Memorial Museum (Holocaust Museum), Holocaust 
     survivor organizations, and others began exerting pressure on 
     International Commission members to allow unfettered access 
     to the ITS archives;
       Whereas, following years of delay, in May 2006 in 
     Luxembourg the International Commission of the ITS agreed 
     upon amendments to the Bonn Accords which would grant 
     researchers access to the archives and would allow each 
     Commission member country to receive a digitized copy of the 
     archives and make them available to researchers, consistent 
     with their own country's respective archival and privacy laws 
     and practices;
       Whereas the first 3 Commission member states to ratify the 
     amendments were the United States, Israel, and Poland, all 3 
     of which are home to hundreds of thousands of survivors of 
     Nazi brutality;
       Whereas the Holocaust Museum has worked assiduously for 
     years to ensure the timely release of the archives to 
     survivors and the public;
       Whereas the Department of State has been engaged in 
     diplomatic efforts with other Commission member nations to 
     provide open access to the archives;
       Whereas the House of Representatives unanimously passed H. 
     Res. 240 on April 25, 2007, and the United States Senate 
     passed S. Res. 141 on May 1, 2007, urging all member 
     countries of the International Commission of the ITS who have 
     yet to ratify the May 2006 amendments to the 1955 Bonn 
     Accords to expedite the ratification process, to allow for 
     open access to the archives;
       Whereas, on May 15, 2007, the International Commission 
     voted in favor of a United States proposal to allow immediate 
     transfer of a digital copy of archived materials to any of 
     the 11 member states that have adopted the May 2006 
     amendments to the Bonn Accords, and thereafter, transfer of 
     materials to both the Holocaust Museum and to Yad Vashem, the 
     Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in 
     Israel, was initiated;
       Whereas, while it is not possible to fully compensate 
     Holocaust survivors for the pain, suffering, and loss of 
     loved ones they have experienced, it is a moral and 
     justifiable imperative for Holocaust survivors and their 
     families to be offered expedited open access to these 
     archives;
       Whereas time is of the essence in order for Holocaust 
     researchers to access the archives while eyewitnesses to the 
     horrific atrocities of Nazi Germany are still alive;
       Whereas opening the historic record is a vital contribution 
     to the world's collective memory and understanding of the 
     Holocaust and ensures that unchecked anti-Semitism and 
     complete disrespect for the value of human life--including 
     the crimes committed against non-Jewish victims--which made 
     such horrors possible are never again permitted to take hold;
       Whereas, despite overwhelming international recognition of 
     the unconscionable horrors of the Holocaust and its 
     devastating impact on world Jewry, there has been a sharp 
     increase in anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial across the 
     globe in recent years; and
       Whereas it is critical that the international community 
     continue to heed the lessons of the Holocaust, one of the 
     darkest periods in the history of humankind, and take 
     immediate and decisive measures to combat the scourge of 
     anti-Semitism: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends in the strongest terms all nations that worked 
     expeditiously to ratify the amendments to the Bonn Accords to 
     allow for open access to the Holocaust Archives located at 
     Bad Arolsen, Germany;
       (2) congratulates the dedication, commitment, and 
     collaborative efforts of the United States Holocaust Memorial 
     Museum, the Department of State, and the International 
     Committee of the Red Cross to open the archives;
       (3) encourages the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 
     and the International Committee of the Red Cross to act with 
     all possible urgency to create appropriate conditions to 
     ensure that survivors, their families, and researchers have 
     direct access to the archives and are offered effective 
     assistance in navigating and interpreting these archives;
       (4) remembers and pays tribute to the murder of 6,000,000 
     innocent Jews and more than 5,000,000 other innocent victims 
     during the Holocaust by Nazi perpetrators and their 
     collaborators; and
       (5) must remain vigilant in combating global anti-Semitism, 
     intolerance, and bigotry.

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