[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 62 (Friday, April 27, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN HONOR OF YOM HA-SHOAH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 27, 2012

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, on Holocaust Remembrance Day--we remember 
the 6 million Jews who were brutally murdered by the Nazis and their 
allies.
  The world stood silent while Jews were rounded up and shot, while 
families were taken from their homes while entire communities were 
``liquidated''--and Jews were transported to concentration camps or 
murdered.
  While millions perished in the gas chambers. There was no outrage. 
There were no protests.
  And the world stood by while one-third of the Jewish community was 
murdered. The numbers are almost incomprehensible. And perhaps the 
world stayed silent because the threat was simply unbelievable. Who 
could believe that civilized Germany, with its musicians and 
philosophers, could possibly mean to murder so many?
  But now we know better--we know that when a dictator rises up--when 
he swears that he will destroy Israel--when he denies that the 
Holocaust ever took place--when he murders his own people and 
suppresses democracy--should not be allowed to develop the capability 
to murder millions of people with a single bomb.
  We know that we have an obligation to stand up--we know we have an 
obligation to act. We know that a nuclear Iran can blackmail the world, 
threaten oil supplies and carry out its threat to wipe Israel off the 
face of the map. If Iran develops nuclear bombs, it will have the 
ability to do in a matter of minutes what it took the Nazis six years 
to do.
  The best way to ensure that there's no possibility of a new, deadlier 
holocaust is to make sure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.
  I support efforts in Congress and by this administration to implement 
strong sanctions to force Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions.
  But above all, Israel has an absolute right and sole discretion to 
take whatever steps may be necessary to defend itself and its citizens.
  A nuclear Iran is a threat to the entire world and we all have a 
responsibility to act.
  We cannot afford to stand by in silence.

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