[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 48 (Thursday, April 11, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF THE HOLOCAUST RAIL JUSTICE BILL

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 11, 2013

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, today I am 
introducing the bipartisan Holocaust Rail Justice Act along with my 
colleagues Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, C.A. Dutch 
Ruppersberger, Elijah E. Cummings, Charles B. Rangel, John Sarbanes, 
Rush Holt, Bill Pascrell, Jr., Allyson Schwartz, Gerry Connolly, Ted 
Deutch, Corrine Brown, Robert Brady, Jerrold Nadler, Jim Moran, David 
Cicilline, Alcee Hastings, Raul M. Grijalva, Peter King, Lois Frankel 
and Randy Weber.
  During World War II, trains operated by Societe Nationale des Chemins 
de fer Francais (SNCF) transported more than 75,000 Jews, United States 
pilots shot down over France, and other ``undesirables,'' from France 
toward Nazi death camps. SNCF willingly collaborated with the Nazi 
government, operating the trains as a commercial venture and were paid 
per head, per kilometer to deliver thousands to their deaths.
  SNCF has not been held accountable for its actions by never paying 
reparations to its victims in the almost 70 years since the end of 
World War II. The Holocaust Rail Justice Act allows the hundreds of 
known survivors, veterans and their family members living in the United 
States today to hold SNCF accountable. Holocaust survivors would be 
granted their deserved day in court, including many who have sought 
legal action for the past 10 years.
  SNCF has thus far succeeded in evading jurisdiction in the United 
States courts by hiding behind foreign sovereign immunity. This 
legislation would simply preclude, in this one limited instance, the 
defense of foreign sovereign immunity from being raised. As the facts 
make clear, this is not the type of situation foreign sovereign 
immunity was intended to cover.
  I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation that would finally 
hold SNCF accountable for its wartime actions and provide survivors 
with what is likely their last opportunity for justice in their 
lifetimes.

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