[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 53 (Thursday, April 15, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E564-E565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RECOGNITION OF HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

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                         HON. LAURA RICHARDSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 15, 2010

  Ms. RICHARDSON. Madam Speaker, I rise today, during the Holocaust 
week of remembrance which follows Yom Hashoah this past Sunday. I rise 
to honor the memory of all those who perished in the Holocaust, all the 
survivors who had to suffer so greatly, and all those who lost family 
and friends in the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a tragedy unmatched in 
the history of the world and we must never forget it lest we allow 
history to repeat itself.
  The Nazis systematically exterminated over 6 million Jewish people 
and killed between 11 and 17 million people all told. They established 
concentration camps, including the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau, 
Treblinka, Belzec, and Sobibor where they worked people to death and 
systematically exterminated them.
  The importance of commemorating and studying the Holocaust is 
particularly urgent now as the number of survivors that can relate 
their firsthand impressions is dwindling. We must learn from those who 
personally witnessed the horrors while we still can.
  The timing of this week of remembrance is particularly appropriate as 
President Obama negotiates the world's nuclear future at this week's 
historic two-day nuclear summit. During the Holocaust we saw the 
devastation that can be brought when evil gains power. We have seen 
millions of people die and that was before the world knew of the 
destructive

[[Page E565]]

power of nuclear weapons. While we all celebrate the creation of the 
State of Israel, an amazing country I was able to visit last year and 
witness the incredible things the Israelis have done with such a small 
country surrounded by hostile neighbors, we know that the concentration 
of the Jewish people in their own State leaves them vulnerable if a 
nuclear weapon fell into the hands of an entity wishing to bring the 
destruction the Nazis brought. And we unfortunately know such entities 
exist.
  Therefore we must remember the tragedy of the Holocaust and do 
everything in our power to ensure no tragedy of this magnitude will 
ever occur again. This means continuing to educate people, promoting 
tolerance, and vigilantly checking the power of those forces who would 
wish to revisit the horror of the Holocaust.

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