[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 112 (Tuesday, July 12, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5009-S5010]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 46--EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE GOAL OF 
  ENSURING THAT ALL HOLOCAUST VICTIMS LIVE WITH DIGNITY, COMFORT, AND 
 SECURITY IN THEIR REMAINING YEARS, AND URGING THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF 
   GERMANY TO CONTINUE TO REAFFIRM ITS COMMITMENT TO COMPREHENSIVELY 
  ADDRESS THE UNIQUE HEALTH AND WELFARE NEEDS OF VULNERABLE HOLOCAUST 
   VICTIMS, INCLUDING HOME CARE AND OTHER MEDICALLY PRESCRIBED NEEDS

  Mr. NELSON (for himself and Ms. Collins) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 46

       Whereas the annihilation of 6,000,000 Jews during the 
     Holocaust and the murder of millions of others by the Nazi 
     German state constitutes one of the most tragic and heinous 
     crimes in human history;
       Whereas hundreds of thousands of Jews survived persecution 
     by the Nazi regime despite being imprisoned, subjected to 
     slave labor, moved into ghettos, forced to live in hiding or 
     under false identity or curfew, or required to wear the 
     ``yellow star'';
       Whereas in fear of the oncoming Nazi Einsatzgruppen, or 
     ``Nazi Killing Squads'', and the likelihood of extermination, 
     hundreds of thousands of Jewish Nazi victims fled for their 
     lives;
       Whereas whatever type of persecution suffered by Jews 
     during the Holocaust, the common thread that binds Holocaust 
     victims is that they were targeted for extermination and they 
     lived with a constant fear for their lives and the lives of 
     their loved ones;
       Whereas Holocaust victims immigrated to the United States 
     from Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the former 
     Soviet Union between 1933 and the date of adoption of this 
     resolution;
       Whereas it is estimated that there are at least 100,000 
     Holocaust victims living in the United States and 
     approximately 500,000 Holocaust victims living around the 
     world, including child survivors of the Holocaust;
       Whereas tens of thousands of Holocaust victims are at least 
     80 years old, and the number of surviving Holocaust victims 
     is diminishing;
       Whereas at least 50 percent of Holocaust victims alive 
     today will pass away within the next decade, and those living 
     victims are becoming frailer and have increasing health and 
     welfare needs;
       Whereas Holocaust victims throughout the world continue to 
     suffer from permanent physical and psychological injuries and 
     disabilities and live with the emotional scars of a 
     systematic genocide against the Jewish people;
       Whereas many of the emotional and psychological scars of 
     Holocaust victims are exacerbated in the old age of the 
     Holocaust victims;
       Whereas the past haunts and overwhelms many aspects of the 
     lives of Holocaust victims when their health fails them;
       Whereas Holocaust victims suffer particular trauma when 
     their emotional and physical circumstances force them to 
     leave the security of their homes and enter institutional or 
     other group living residential facilities;
       Whereas tens of thousands of Holocaust victims live in 
     poverty and cannot afford, and do not receive, sufficient 
     medical care, home care, mental health care, medicine, food, 
     transportation, and other vital life-sustaining services that 
     allow individuals to live their final years with comfort and 
     dignity;
       Whereas Holocaust victims often lack family support 
     networks and require social worker-supported case management 
     in order to manage their daily lives and access government-
     funded services;
       Whereas in response to a letter sent by Members of Congress 
     to the Minister of Finance of Germany in December 2015 
     relating to increased funding for Holocaust victims, German 
     officials acknowledged that ``recent experience has shown 
     that the care financed by the German Government to date is 
     insufficient'' and that ``it is imperative to expand these 
     assistance measures quickly given the advanced age of many of 
     the affected persons'';
       Whereas German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer acknowledged, in 
     1951, the responsibility of Germany to provide moral and 
     financial compensation to Holocaust victims worldwide;
       Whereas every successive German Chancellor has reaffirmed 
     that acknowledgment, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, who, 
     in 2007, reaffirmed that ``only by fully accepting its 
     enduring responsibility for this most appalling period and 
     for the cruelest crimes in its history, can Germany shape the 
     future'';
       Whereas, in 2015, the spokesperson of Chancellor Angela 
     Merkel confirmed that ``all Germans know the history of the 
     murderous race mania of the Nazis that led to the break with 
     civilization that was the Holocaust . . . we know the 
     responsibility for this crime against humanity is German and 
     very much our own''; and
       Whereas Congress believes it is the moral and historical 
     responsibility of Germany to comprehensively, permanently, 
     and urgently provide resources for the medical, mental 
     health, and long-term care needs of all Holocaust victims: 
     Now, therefore, be it

[[Page S5010]]

       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) acknowledges the financial and moral commitment of the 
     Federal Republic of Germany over the past seven decades to 
     provide a measure of justice for Holocaust victims; and
       (2) supports the goal of ensuring that all Holocaust 
     victims in the United States and around the world are able to 
     live with dignity, comfort, and security in their remaining 
     years.

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