[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 16 (Friday, January 30, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMEMORATING THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF THE AUSCHWITZ 
                           EXTERMINATION CAMP

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 8, S. 
Res. 35.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 35) commemorating the 70th 
     anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination 
     camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign 
Relations, with an amendment to strike out all after the resolving 
clause and insert the part printed in italic.

                               S. Res. 35

       Whereas, on January 27, 1945, the Auschwitz extermination 
     camp in Nazi-occupied Poland was liberated by Allied Forces 
     during World War II after almost 5 years of murder, rape, and 
     torture at the camp;
       Whereas 1,100,000 innocent civilians were murdered at the 
     Auschwitz extermination camp;
       Whereas nearly 1,300,000 innocent civilians were deported 
     to Auschwitz from their homes across Eastern and Western 
     Europe, particularly from Hungary, Poland, and France;
       Whereas 1,000,000 of the civilians who perished at the camp 
     were Jews, along with 100,000 non-Jewish Poles, Roma and 
     Sinti individuals, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah's 
     Witnesses, gay men and women, and other ethnic minorities;
       Whereas these civilians included farmers, tailors, 
     seamstresses, factory hands, accountants, doctors, teachers, 
     small-business owners, clergy, intellectuals, government 
     officials, and political activists;
       Whereas these civilians were subjected to torture, forced 
     labor, starvation, rape, medical experiments, and being 
     separated from loved ones;
       Whereas the names of many of these civilians who perished 
     have been lost forever;
       Whereas the Auschwitz extermination camp symbolizes the 
     extraordinary brutality of the Holocaust;
       Whereas the people of the United States must never forget 
     the terrible crimes against humanity committed at the 
     Auschwitz extermination camp;
       Whereas the people of the United States must educate future 
     generations to promote understanding of the dangers of 
     intolerance in order to prevent similar injustices from 
     happening again; and
       Whereas commemoration of the liberation of the Auschwitz 
     extermination camp will instill in all people of the United 
     States a greater awareness of the Holocaust: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved,
       That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates January 27, 2015, as the 70th anniversary 
     of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp by 
     Allied Forces during World War II;
       (2) calls on all people of the United States to remember 
     the 1,100,000 innocent victims murdered at the Auschwitz 
     extermination camp as part of the Holocaust;
       (3) honors the legacy of the survivors of the Holocaust and 
     of the Auschwitz extermination camp; and
       (4) calls on the people of the United States to continue to 
     work toward tolerance, peace, and justice and to continue to 
     work to end all genocide and persecution.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported 
substitute be agreed to, the resolution, as amended, be agreed to, the 
preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be made and laid 
upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.
  The resolution (S. Res. 35), as amended, was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.

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