[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 84 (Wednesday, June 6, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E998]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IN RECOGNITION OF THE U.S. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM SECOND ANNUAL 
                         LUNCHEON IN CLEVELAND

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 6, 2012

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to acknowledge the gathering 
of supporters of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 
Cleveland for the second annual Cleveland Luncheon on Monday May 21, 
2012. The luncheon featured remarks by Museum Director Sara Bloomfield, 
a Cleveland native, and former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey. 
Judge Mukasey discussed the importance of the Museum's training for 
judges, ``Law, Justice, and the Holocaust: How the Courts Failed 
Germany.''
  The idea of a U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum began in 1978. On 
November 1, 1978, President Jimmy Carter established the ``President's 
Commission on the Holocaust,'' chaired by author and Holocaust survivor 
Elie Wiesel. The commission was charged with, among other things, 
reporting back on how an appropriate museum could be created in 
Washington to commemorate the Holocaust which would be funded through 
contributions by the American people. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial 
Museum was completed in 1993 on 1.9 acres of land adjacent to the 
National Mall in Washington donated by the federal government with the 
$200 million in construction costs paid completely by private 
donations.
  To quote Director Bloomfield, the ``Museum presents the Holocaust in 
a way that challenges people to confront human nature--the entire 
spectrum, from extraordinary evil that led to the mass murder of Jews 
to the extraordinary goodness of people who risked their lives, risked 
the lives of their families to save another human being, and every kind 
of shade of human behavior in between. And, for me, it says to people, 
now that you know this about ourselves as a species, what must you do 
with this? You must do something with this. You must be responsible for 
our species.''
  Mr. Speaker, Director Bloomfield's perspective sums up the practical 
necessity of peace education, which I fully support and have advocated 
on this floor and in the corridors of Congress. I am pleased that there 
is a national grassroots movement to support the U.S. Holocaust 
Memorial Museum and that the movement has convened for a second year in 
Cleveland. Please join me in acknowledging the importance of this 
movement and the support they provide to continuing the peace education 
conducted on a daily basis at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

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