[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 175 (Wednesday, November 16, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H7632]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE HOLOCAUST RAIL JUSTICE ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Turner) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TURNER of New York. Mr. Speaker, the tragedy of the Holocaust is 
etched deep within our minds. All of us have heard the stories of human 
experiments, tortures, and mass execution. As the entrance to the 
Holocaust Museum here in Washington says, ``Never again,'' and others 
have said, ``Never forget.''
  Sadly, we were provided with a powerful reminder this past week in my 
district that anti-Semitism is very much in our midsts. Seventy-three 
years later to the day, the events of Kristallnacht, the ``night of 
broken glass,'' were replayed in my district. Cars were burned and 
anti-Semitic scrawlings left on property.
  Today we know the consequences of inaction. It was as true then as it 
is today. We know that hatred is out there, and we are all too familiar 
with its ability to spread like a cancer. Ten million people died at 
the hands of the Nazis, including 6 million Jews. This indiscriminate 
murder is beyond comprehension. It is unfathomable. And while Hitler 
and his Nazi henchmen coordinated this horrific event, they were not 
alone, and others who aided, abetted, and profited from this crime 
should be held accountable.
  This morning, I will be joining my colleague, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, 
chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who is holding a 
hearing on two important pieces of legislation which would make and 
hold accountable those entities that aided in the Holocaust. The 
Holocaust Rail Justice Act would make the French-owned rail company, 
SNCF, which transported Jews in appalling conditions from France to 
Germany, liable for damages.
  I am proud to be a cosponsor of this bill. For a generation, 
Holocaust victims and survivors have been denied justice through a 
legal loophole barring lawsuits against sovereign entities. The rail 
company, SNCF, has hidden behind this legal veil as a way to escape 
liability, even though SNCF's trains, tracks, and employees were used.
  There's no excuse for any person or entity that played any role in 
the Holocaust. The Nuremberg trials made clear that it is not enough 
that ``we were following orders.'' It is not enough today to say that 
SNCF did not engineer the atrocities. SNCF facilitated it, and they 
should be held accountable for their part.

                              {time}  1030

  Chairman Ros-Lehtinen has introduced another measure which will 
enable Holocaust survivors and heirs and beneficiaries of Holocaust 
victims to obtain compensation for insurance policies which were taken 
by Nazi-run governments. This bill would provide a legal forum for 
victims to have their claims heard--which is small compensation for the 
atrocities of the Holocaust--so that the words ``never again'' are more 
than just words.

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