[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 15 (Tuesday, February 2, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H443-H445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMMEMORATING 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ
Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1044) commemorating the 65th
anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration and
extermination camp, honoring the victims of the Holocaust, and
expressing commitment to strengthen the fight against bigotry and
intolerance, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1044
Whereas during the Holocaust, an estimated 6,000,000 Jews
and other targeted groups were murdered by the Nazis and
their collaborators;
Whereas, on January 27, 1945, Auschwitz, a Nazi
concentration and extermination camp, including Birkenau and
other related camps, was liberated by the Soviet Army;
Whereas Auschwitz, located in Poland, was the largest
complex of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps;
Whereas according to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, between
1940 and 1945, the Nazis deported at a minimum 1,300,000
people to Auschwitz, and of these, murdered 1,100,000;
Whereas an estimated 960,000 Jews were systematically
murdered in Auschwitz during the Holocaust;
Whereas Auschwitz was also used to murder Poles, Roma,
Soviet Prisoners of War, those helping to hide Jews and
others the Nazis deemed inferior or that held different
political views;
Whereas victims of Auschwitz were systematically murdered
in gas chambers and many were starved to death, tortured, and
subjected to forced labor and criminal medical experiments;
Whereas the complex of the Auschwitz concentration and
extermination camp has come to symbolize the mass murder and
inhumanity committed during the Holocaust;
Whereas the famous ``Arbeit Macht Frei'' (Work Will Make
You Free) sign over the entrance to Auschwitz was stolen on
December 18, 2009, and later recovered and the Polish police
arrested the alleged culprits behind the theft;
Whereas according to the Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism
Report released by the Department of State's Office of the
Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, ``[o]ver
the last decade, United States embassies and consulates have
reported an upsurge in anti-Semitism . . . and that [a]nti-
Semitic crimes range from acts of violence, including
terrorist attacks against Jews, to the desecration and
destruction of Jewish property . . .''; and
Whereas in 2005, United Nations General Assembly resolution
60/7 established January 27, the anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz, as International Holocaust
Remembrance Day for the world to honor the victims of the
Holocaust: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) commemorates the 65th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz;
(2) honors the victims of Auschwitz and other Nazi
concentration and extermination camps, and all those who
perished at the hands of the Nazis;
(3) expresses gratitude to the Allied soldiers, underground
fighters, and all those whose efforts helped defeat the Nazi
regime and liberate Auschwitz and other concentration and
extermination camps during World War II;
(4) reaffirms its commitment to enhance Holocaust education
at home and abroad and to ensure that what happened in
Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration and extermination
camps is never allowed to happen again; and
(5) urges all countries to enhance their efforts to combat
bigotry, racism, intolerance, and anti-Semitism.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
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Florida (Mr. Klein) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.
General Leave
Mr. KLEIN of Florida. 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 resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
resolution and yield myself as much time as I may consume.
As an original cosponsor of this legislation, I would like to thank
the author of this resolution, my good friend from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) for authoring this important statement. This resolution
recognizes the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
As the many in this Chamber know, Auschwitz was one of several Nazi
concentration and extermination camps. Auschwitz served as a death
factory of Eastern Europe's Jewish community and many others who were
persecuted and murdered by the Nazis. On January 27, 1945, Auschwitz
was liberated by Allied Forces, and that day is commemorated around the
world as International Day of Holocaust Remembrance.
Today, Auschwitz is a reminder of the consequences of hatred,
bigotry, and humanity's worst. The words, ``Never again,'' are a
mission, a goal to ensure that humanity never again sinks to those
depths. This resolution reminds us of this purpose and focuses our
efforts on education and prevention.
This is something that I have personally been working on for many
years. As a member of the Florida Senate, I helped pass the first
requirement for Holocaust education in public school curriculum. Now,
many States have followed suit, and more American children of all walks
of life are learning these important lessons.
In Congress, I have learned that Holocaust education can take many
forms. Just down the street from the U.S. Capitol is the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum. Since I've come to Congress, Congressman
Mike Pence and I have sought to bring new Members of Congress every 2
years to the Holocaust Museum so they can bear witness to this tragic
history. They take this knowledge with them and bring it back to their
districts across America and use their new understanding to raise
awareness of anti-Semitism and bigotry around the world.
I would like to thank Ms. Ros-Lehtinen for focusing this resolution
on Holocaust education. As the generation of American liberators and
Holocaust survivors begins to pass away, the mission of education and
of ``Never again'' is more critical than ever.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the many ceremonies that were
held last week in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day,
including one at Auschwitz, attended by Poland's President and Prime
Minister, along with education ministers from nearly 30 nations and
about 150 Holocaust survivors. At this commemoration, Israeli Prime
Minister Netanyahu proclaimed, ``We will not allow the deniers of the
Holocaust . . . to erase or distort the memory [of what happened].''
This is our mission as well, and today the House of Representatives
should speak with one voice in support of this mission.
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
{time} 1545
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I rise today in support of my bill, House Resolution 1044,
commemorating this year as the 65th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz, the largest of the Nazi extermination camps. Over a million
people were systematically tortured and brutally murdered there. The
Nazis at Auschwitz conducted cruel medical experiments on prisoners,
including children. They intentionally infected prisoners with diseases
and performed forced sterilizations and castrations on adults.
Most of those who perished at Auschwitz were Jews. But others that
the Nazis perceived as enemies or inferior to Hitler's Aryan image were
also murdered at Auschwitz. It was hell on Earth. Leo Schneiderman, a
Holocaust survivor said the following about his arrival at Auschwitz,
and I quote: ``When we came in, the minute the gates opened up, we
heard screams and barking of dogs, and then we got out of the train.
And everything went so fast. Men separated from women. Children torn
from the arms of mothers. The elderly chased like cattle. The sick, the
disabled were handled like packs of garbage. My mother ran over to me
and grabbed me by the shoulders, and she told me, `Leibele, I'm not
going to see you no more. Take care of your brother.' ''
After years of misery and suffering, only a few thousands had
remained when the Soviet Army arrived on a snowy day in 1945. Most of
those survivors were too weak to realize that they had been liberated.
We must remember what happened and ensure that humanity always prevails
over hateful savagery and oppression.
The resolution we are considering today, Mr. Speaker, commemorates
the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and honors the
victims who perished at the hands of the Nazis. It expresses gratitude
to the people whose efforts helped defeat the Nazi regime. It reaffirms
the commitment of the House to bolster Holocaust education here in the
United States and abroad, and to ensure that what happened during the
Holocaust is never allowed to happen again.
And it also urges all countries to enhance their efforts to fight
bigotry, racism, intolerance, and anti-Semitism. We must heed the
lessons of history, remain vigilant, and stand firmly against purveyors
of hatred who incite to violence against Israel, against the Jewish
people, and all of us who stand for liberty and the fundamental rights
of all human beings. As Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said at a
ceremony last week which marked the 65th anniversary of the liberation
of Auschwitz, and I quote: ``We will always remember what the Nazi
Amalek did to us, and we won't forget to be prepared for the new
Amalek, who is making an appearance on the stage of history and once
again threatening to destroy the Jews. We will not take this lightly
and believe that these are empty statements. We will never forget and
always remember to stand guard.''
So as we commemorate the 65th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz, I urge my colleagues to keep those words in mind and work to
support and ensure that the world will never again see another
Holocaust. I would also like to use this opportunity to say that I will
be introducing a bill this week that will open the door for Holocaust
survivors to bring Holocaust-era insurance claims against insurance
companies in the U.S. courts. This bill will force insurance companies
to disclose the names of Holocaust insurance policy holders.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to render their full
support to this resolution.
I reserve the balance of our time.
Mr. KLEIN of Florida. I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Texas, Judge Poe, a member of our Committee on Foreign
Affairs.
Mr. POE of Texas. Auschwitz was one of several if not many
concentration camps that were established by the Nazis. In 1945, a
young, 18-year old teenager who'd never been more than 50 miles from
home showed up, along with other members of the Seventh Army, at a
place called Dachau in Germany, and he helped liberate that
concentration camp. That camp had been open from 1933 to 1945, where
scientific experiments were done on people, ordered by the Nazis. This
was the first concentration camp in Germany. That 18-year old that
helped liberate that camp was my father. And he never talked much about
World War II. But from time to time, even to this day, he mentions the
word Dachau because that had such a tremendous impact on him.
I have had the opportunity, along with my son Kurt, to go to Germany
to
[[Page H445]]
see this place where people were tortured, humiliated, and murdered by
the Nazis. Auschwitz was one. There are many others. And yet we should
remember all the places where people were tortured in the name of hate,
and we should remember the survivors of these concentration camps, and
we should remember them forever.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the ranking member on the
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade.
Mr. ROYCE. I rise in support of this resolution commemorating the
65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I'm an original
cosponsor of this bill. But I'd like to thank the author of this
resolution, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, and Chairman Berman as well for their
leadership.
Mr. Speaker, during World War II, my father was part of the Allied
Forces who liberated Dachau. It was a concentration camp of similar
horrors to that of Auschwitz, as Mr. Poe expressed. And when they took
the camp, he took pictures to document the tragedy, to document the
horror of what he witnessed, and he has used them ever since, even to
this day, in terms of lecturing to high school classes.
Mr. Speaker, importantly, we are marking this anniversary. We do so
to remember the Holocaust and its victims. Inevitably the refrain
``Never Again'' comes to our lips. But, unfortunately, we know that
this type of terror continues. Maybe not on the magnitude that it
occurred during the Holocaust, but in the North Korean police state,
where 200,000 are held in a system of political concentration camps
which are modern day gulags, and the pictures of those imprisoned in
North Korea, malnourished, with striped pajamas, are jarringly familiar
to those of us who saw those photographs, either at Dachau or at
Auschwitz.
Of course, like Nazi Germany, many of the regimes that have no
respect for their own, like North Korea, are hostile also to us. High
school students my father has lectured about World War II often ask why
the world was so asleep to Adolf Hitler's horrors. Of course the world
was only slowly learning about the depth of what was occurring in camps
like Auschwitz. But with respect to today's tragedies, we don't have
such an excuse.
Mr. Speaker, on the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz,
all of us, Congress and the administration, can resolve to do more in
the cause of freedom, to do more to commit the United States to make
certain that nothing like the Holocaust ever occurs again. And we can
do more to remember the victims of that senseless slaughter.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time,
and we yield back the balance of our time.
Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady and the
speakers this afternoon on this very important resolution. I urge
Members of this Chamber to support this resolution and send a strong
message worldwide, never again.
Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, the Auschwitz concentration camp serves as a
tragic reminder of the millions of innocent men, women and children who
lost their lives in the Holocaust. Yet it also is a standing testament
to all those who risked their own lives to defeat the Nazi regime.
I would like to thank the Ranking Member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for
bringing this resolution to the floor, and I am proud to cosponsor H.
Res. 1044, a resolution commemorating the 65th anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz.
On January 27, 1945, Allied Forces liberated the Auschwitz
concentration camp where victims were systematically murdered in gas
chambers, starved, tortured and subjected to forced labor and cruel
medical experiments. According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum,
over one million people lost their lives at Auschwitz.
Auschwitz was the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp,
and its buildings have come to symbolize the sheer inhumanity of the
Holocaust. As we mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz, let us recommit ourselves to combating bigotry, racism,
intolerance and anti-Semitism.
As the co-chair of the Congressional Anti-Semitism Caucus, I stand in
support of the resolution. With its passage, we remember the truth of
the Holocaust and say with one resounding voice, ``Never again!''
Mr. KLEIN of Florida. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Klein) that the House suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1044, as amended.
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. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground
that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum
is not present.
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.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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