[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 160 (Thursday, October 2, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10423-S10424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PRESERVATION OF RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL SITES

  Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 705, which was 
submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 705) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate on the commitment of the United States to the 
     preservation of religious and cultural sites.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 705) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 705

       Whereas the Senate is committed to protecting and 
     preserving the cultural heritage of all national, religious, 
     and ethnic groups, including cemeteries and other sacred 
     sites of those groups in the United States and abroad;
       Whereas the Holocaust annihilated much of the Jewish 
     population of Europe, and in many countries in Europe, no 
     Jewish people were left to care for the communal properties 
     that represent a historic culture in the area and constitute 
     an integral part of the Jewish religion;
       Whereas the Holocaust and 45 years of atheistic, Communist 
     governments in Eastern Europe created a critical need that 
     led to the establishment of the United States Commission for 
     the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad under section 
     1303 of the International Security and Development 
     Cooperation Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 469j);
       Whereas the United States Commission for the Preservation 
     of America's Heritage Abroad is tasked with identifying and 
     reporting on cemeteries, monuments, and historic buildings in 
     Eastern and Central Europe that are associated with the 
     heritage of United States citizens and obtaining assurances 
     from the governments in those regions that those properties 
     will be protected and preserved;
       Whereas many of those properties continue to be endangered 
     and governments and communities continue to face fundamental 
     and compelling challenges in the preservation of those 
     properties;
       Whereas experts within Lithuania and from around the world 
     believe that the cemetery located in the Snipiskes area of 
     Vilnius, Lithuania, is an historic Jewish cemetery and is 
     sacred ground;
       Whereas, in 2005, municipal authorities in Vilnius, 
     Lithuania, approved the construction of an apartment building 
     at the outer edge of that Jewish cemetery;
       Whereas that cemetery dates to the 15th century and is 
     known by scholars in Lithuania and around the world as the 
     first Jewish cemetery in Vilnius;
       Whereas it is believed that, before the Government closed 
     the cemetery in the early 1800s, more than 50,000 Jews were 
     buried there;
       Whereas, in December 2006, several months after experts and 
     groups from around the world expressed grave concern about 
     the desecration of the Snipiskes cemetery, the Prime Minister 
     of Lithuania established a working group to define the 
     cemetery's borders and to consider how to memorialize it;

[[Page S10424]]

       Whereas, in 2007, before the conclusion of the working 
     group, authorities of the Government of Lithuania approved 
     additional construction on the disputed ground;
       Whereas, in May 2007, the working group, consisting of 
     historians, scientists, and rabbis from Lithuania and around 
     the world, called for a halt in construction activity until 
     completion of a site study to be undertaken using ground-
     penetrating radar;
       Whereas, on September 3, 2008, a group commissioned by the 
     Government of Lithuania to study the area using the ground-
     penetrating radar concluded that the boundaries of the 
     cemetery included the disputed apartment buildings;
       Whereas the Ministry of Culture of Lithuania released a 
     statement dismissing the study as inconclusive;
       Whereas the fact that the Government of Lithuania has 
     allowed construction to take place at the Jewish cemetery 
     located in the Snipiskes area of Vilnius, Lithuania, and that 
     desecration of sacred sites continues into the 21st century, 
     is an affront to the international Jewish community, the 
     people of the United States, and everyone who values 
     religious freedom and ethnic diversity around the world;
       Whereas the United States and Lithuania signed the 
     Agreement on the Protection and Preservation of Certain 
     Cultural Properties on October 15, 2002;
       Whereas Article 1 of the Agreement states, ``Each Party 
     will take appropriate steps to protect and preserve the 
     cultural heritage of all national, religious or ethnic groups 
     . . . who reside or resided in its territory and were victims 
     of genocide in its territory during the Second World War. The 
     term `cultural heritage' for purposes of this Agreement means 
     . . . cemeteries and memorials to the dead. . . .'';
       Whereas cemeteries are sacred sites and are established to 
     remain undisturbed in perpetuity, and the sanctity of a 
     cemetery is determined by the bodies buried in the cemetery; 
     and
       Whereas, while vandalism of headstones or construction of a 
     commercial building on the site disgraces the cemetery, it 
     does not change its sacred status: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) expresses strongly to the Government of Lithuania that 
     the cemetery located in the Snipiskes area of Vilnius, 
     Lithuania, which is an important part of the cultural 
     heritage of the Jewish people, should not be further 
     desecrated;
       (2) urges the Government of Lithuania to take all the 
     necessary steps to immediately stop and, if necessary, 
     reverse, construction on that cemetery;
       (3) reaffirms that constructive bilateral relations between 
     Lithuania and the United States are important to the 
     Governments and citizens of both countries; and
       (4) expresses strong support for the work of the United 
     States Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage 
     Abroad and for the European countries that continue to work 
     to preserve sacred historical sites, despite ongoing 
     challenges.

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