[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 17, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6315-H6319]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ELIE WIESEL GENOCIDE AND ATROCITIES PREVENTION ACT OF 2018
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 3030) to help prevent acts of genocide and other
atrocity crimes, which threaten national and international security, by
enhancing United States Government capacities to prevent, mitigate, and
respond to such crises, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3030
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Elie Wiesel Genocide and
Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the United States affirms
the critical importance of strengthening the United States
Government's efforts at atrocity prevention and response
through interagency coordination such as the Atrocities
Prevention Board (referred to in this section as the
``Board'') or successor entity. In carrying out the work of
the Board or successor entity, appropriate officials of the
United States Government should--
(1) meet regularly to monitor developments throughout the
world that heighten the risk of atrocities;
(2) identify any gaps in United States foreign policy
concerning regions or particular countries related to
atrocity prevention and response;
(3) facilitate the development and implementation of
policies to enhance the capacity of the United States to
prevent and respond to atrocities worldwide;
(4) provide the President with recommendations to improve
policies, programs, resources, and tools related to atrocity
prevention and response;
(5) conduct outreach, including consultations, not less
frequently than biannually, with representatives of
nongovernmental organizations and civil society dedicated to
atrocity prevention and response;
(6) operate with regular consultation and participation of
designated interagency representatives of relevant Federal
agencies, executive departments, or offices; and
(7) ensure funds are made available for the policies,
programs, resources, and tools related to atrocity prevention
and response, including through mechanisms such as the
Complex Crises Fund or other related accounts.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It shall be the policy of the United States to--
(1) regard the prevention of genocide and other atrocities
as in its national security interests;
(2) mitigate threats to United States security by
addressing the root causes of insecurity and violent conflict
to prevent--
(A) the mass slaughter of civilians;
(B) conditions that prompt internal displacement and the
flow of refugees across borders; and
(C) other violence that wreaks havoc on regional stability
and livelihoods;
(3) enhance the capacity of the United States to identify,
prevent, address, and respond to the drivers of atrocities
and violent conflict as part of the United States'
humanitarian, development, and strategic interests; and
(4) pursue a Government-wide strategy to prevent and
respond to the risk of genocide and other atrocities by--
(A) strengthening the diplomatic, risk analysis and
monitoring, strategic planning, early warning, and response
capacities of the Government;
(B) improving the use of foreign assistance to respond
early, effectively, and urgently in order to address the root
causes and drivers of violence, and systemic patterns of
human rights abuses and atrocities;
(C) strengthening diplomatic response and the use of
foreign assistance to support transitional justice measures,
including criminal accountability, for past atrocities;
(D) supporting and strengthening local civil society,
including human rights defenders and others working to help
prevent and respond to atrocities, and protecting their
ability to receive support from and partner with civil
society at large;
(E) promoting financial transparency and enhancing anti-
corruption initiatives as part of addressing a root cause of
insecurity; and
(F) employing a variety of unilateral, bilateral, and
multilateral means to prevent and respond to conflicts and
atrocities by--
[[Page H6316]]
(i) placing a high priority on timely, preventive
diplomatic efforts; and
(ii) exercising a leadership role in promoting
international efforts to end crises peacefully.
SEC. 4. TRAINING OF FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS IN CONFLICT AND
ATROCITIES PREVENTION.
Section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C.
4028) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1)--
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(D) instruction on recognizing patterns of escalation and
early warning signs of potential atrocities or violence,
including gender-based violence, and methods of conflict
assessment, peacebuilding, mediation for prevention, early
action and response, and transitional justice measures to
address atrocities.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(d) Definition.--In this section, the term
`peacebuilding' means nonviolent activities designed to
prevent conflict through--
``(1) addressing root causes of violence;
``(2) promoting sustainable peace;
``(3) delegitimizing violence as a dispute resolution
strategy;
``(4) building capacity within society to peacefully manage
disputes, including the capacity of governments to address
citizen grievances; and
``(5) reducing vulnerability to triggers that may spark
violence.''.
SEC. 5. REPORTS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act and annually thereafter for the following six years,
the President shall transmit to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign
Relations and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the
Senate a report, with a classified annex if necessary, that
includes--
(1) a review, in consultation with appropriate interagency
representatives, consisting of a detailed description of--
(A) current efforts based on United States and locally
identified indicators, including capacities and constraints
for Government-wide detection, early warning and response,
information-sharing, contingency planning, and coordination
of efforts to prevent and respond to situations of genocide
and atrocities and other mass violence, such as gender-based
violence and violence against religious minorities;
(B) recommendations to further strengthen United States
capabilities described in subparagraph (A);
(C) funding expended by relevant Federal departments and
agencies on atrocities prevention activities, including
transitional justice measures and the legal, procedural, and
resource constraints faced by the Department of State and the
United States Agency for International Development throughout
respective budgeting, strategic planning, and management
cycles to support conflict and atrocities prevention
activities in countries identified to be at risk of
atrocities;
(D) current annual Government global assessments of sources
of instability, conflict, and atrocities, the outcomes and
findings of such assessments, and, where relevant, a review
of activities, and the efficacy of such activities, that the
Atrocities Prevention Board or successor entity undertook to
respond to sources of instability, conflict, and atrocities;
(E) consideration of analysis, reporting, and policy
recommendations to prevent and respond to atrocities produced
by civil society, academic, and other nongovernmental
organizations and institutions;
(F) countries and regions at risk of atrocities, including
a description of most likely pathways to violence, specific
risk factors, potential groups of perpetrators, and at-risk
target groups; and
(G) instruction on recognizing patterns of escalation and
early warning signs of potential atrocities and methods of
conflict assessment, peace-building, mediation for
prevention, early action and response, and transitional
justice measures to address atrocities in the Federal
training programs for Foreign Service officers;
(2) recommendations to ensure shared responsibility by--
(A) enhancing multilateral mechanisms for preventing
atrocities, including strengthening the role of international
organizations and international financial institutions in
conflict prevention, mitigation, and response; and
(B) strengthening regional organizations;
(3) implementation status of the recommendations contained
in such review; and
(4) identification of the Federal departments and agencies
and civil society, academic, and nongovernmental
organizations and institutions consulted for preparation of
such report.
SEC. 6. DEFINITION.
In this Act, the term ``genocide'' means an offense under
subsection (a) of section 1091 of title 18, United States
Code, or any substantially similar conduct.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).
General Leave
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and to include any extraneous material in the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, it was over 60 years ago that free people around the
world pledged to never again stand by in silence as oppressed people
are annihilated in a genocide. Unfortunately, since then, we have
witnessed mass atrocities and genocide in places such as Bosnia, the
Rwandan genocide, Cambodia, Burma, and in the ISIS strongholds in Syria
and in Iraq.
The United States has often been a leader in responding to these and
other humanitarian crises--not soon enough, in many cases. However,
there is more, obviously, that can be done, and U.S. efforts have been
largely reactive and disjointed, with little transparency or oversight.
This bill is the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act.
It would correct these deficiencies. This act would require an annual
report of administration actions to prevent and respond to potential
genocides and mass atrocities, and it would mandate the identification
of countries that are at risk of such crimes against humanity.
This act also requires that all Foreign Service officers, who often
are at the forefront of U.S. efforts to address atrocities ever since
our Ambassador in Armenia was the first to sound the alarm on the
Armenian genocide, be trained to deal with early warning signs,
conflict assessment, mediation, and other responses.
All of this will better enable our government to develop a
coordinated response as a crisis is developing and, ultimately, to save
lives.
With its name, this bill honors the legacy of Holocaust survivor and
Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, and it furthers our commitment to his call,
for it was his call for ``never again''--never again by strengthening
the U.S. Government's coordination on efforts to prevent, mitigate, and
respond to genocide and other mass atrocities.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bill,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence,
July 17, 2018.
Hon. Edward R. Royce,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: On June 22, 2018, H.R. 3030, the Elie
Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 was
referred to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
(the Committee).
In order to expedite the House's consideration of the
measure, the Committee will forgo consideration of the
measure. This courtesy is conditioned on our mutual
understanding and agreement that it will in no way diminish
or alter the jurisdiction of the Committee with respect to
any future jurisdictional claim over the subject matter
contained in the legislation or any similar measure, nor will
this waiver inhibit the Committee's ability to address issues
of concern going forward. I appreciate your support to the
appointment of Members from the Committee to any House-Senate
conference on this legislation.
I also appreciate your including this letter in the
Congressional Record during floor consideration of the bill.
Thank you for your assistance with this matter.
Sincerely,
Devin Nunes,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC, July 16, 2018.
Hon. Devin Nunes,
Chairman, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for consulting with the
Committee on Foreign Affairs on H.R. 3030, the Elie Wiesel
Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018, and for
agreeing to be discharged from further consideration of that
bill.
I agree that your forgoing further action on this measure
does not in any way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of
your Committee, or prejudice its jurisdictional prerogatives
on this measure or similar legislation in the future. I would
support your effort to
[[Page H6317]]
seek appointment of an appropriate number of conferees to any
House-Senate conference involving this legislation.
I will seek to place our letters on H.R. 3030 into the
Congressional Record during floor consideration of the bill.
I appreciate your cooperation regarding this legislation and
look forward to continuing to work with your Committee as
this measure moves through the legislative process.
Sincerely,
Edward R. Royce,
Chairman.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume,
and I rise in support of this measure.
Mr. Speaker, this bill passed our committee by unanimous, bipartisan
voice vote. It is named for Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor and
author who spent decades leading the fight to bring Nazis to justice.
First, I thank the gentlewoman from Missouri, Ambassador Wagner, and
the chairman of the Democratic Caucus, the gentleman from New York, Joe
Crowley, for their work in bringing forward this very important bill
that improves our capacity to prevent and respond to genocides and mass
atrocities. I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of this
legislation.
Millions of innocent civilians have died in mass atrocities and
genocides. I would like to take just a second to remind everyone of a
few of these tragedies:
The first genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian genocide, which
killed approximately 1.5 million people;
The Holocaust, from 1933 to 1945, more than 9 million people were
killed, including over 6 million Jews;
Cambodia in 1975, which saw the slaying of 2 million people;
Rwanda in 1990, which saw the deaths of 800,000 in just 100 days; and
Sudan, Darfur, and the tragedy there.
Tragedies and crises like this are not just in the past. Today, we
are witnessing mass killings of innocent people in many places around
the globe.
In Burma, the military has inflicted horrific violence against the
Rohingya people. Thousands have been killed. This is ethnic cleansing,
and it appears on the verge of genocide.
Now, 700,000 refugees have been pushed into Bangladesh, 80 percent of
them are women and children. And as I mentioned, in Darfur, some
300,000 are dead, 3 million displaced.
This measure gives us the tools to detect the warning signs of a mass
atrocity or genocide so that we can respond quickly and improves
interagency coordination. Overall, this measure will make our
government better equipped to handle the growing threats of genocide
and crimes against humanity.
This is a good bill. The prevention of genocide and mass atrocity
should be a core objective of our Nation's national security and
foreign policy missions. The bill passed, as I said before, our
committee by a unanimous bipartisan voice vote.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), who is the author of this
legislation.
Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Elie Wiesel
Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act.
I introduced this bill to improve U.S. efforts to prevent mass
atrocity crimes. The legislation honors the legacy of Holocaust
survivor Elie Wiesel and his life's work to fight evil around the
world.
Mr. Wiesel was just 15 years old when the Nazis deported him and his
family to Auschwitz. Having witnessed the near total destruction of his
people, he spent his life defending the persecuted. As Mr. Wiesel
understood so well, the true horror of genocide is that it is
preventable.
We are haunted by repeated failures and missed opportunities to end
these tragedies before they begin. There is more the United States can
and must do to help vulnerable communities and persecuted people around
the world.
The reality is that good intentions and platitudes like ``never
again'' have not prevented the deaths of hundreds of thousands of
civilians at the hands of the Assad regime nor the ethnic cleansing of
the Rohingya Muslims in Burma.
When I introduced this legislation, I thought of the Bosnian
community in St. Louis, my hometown. This community has shaped what St.
Louis looks and feels like. It has added great cultural diversity to
the city, immense intellectual capital, thriving small businesses, and
a strong religious presence.
Two decades ago, members of our Bosnian community were refugees. In
1995, Orthodox Serbs, under the command of General Ratko Mladic,
initiated a horrific ethnic cleansing campaign against majority-Muslim
Bosniaks. The bloodshed forced 130,000 Bosnian refugees to seek new
lives in the United States.
It is fitting that today we remember the victims of the Bosnian
genocide just a few days after its 23rd anniversary. I am continually
amazed by the resilience of our Bosnian neighbors. Their courage has
inspired me to seek change.
The Elie Wiesel Act expresses Congress' strong support for better
utilization of existing resources, particularly the Atrocities
Prevention Board, which is dedicated to coordinating U.S. atrocity
prevention and response, and the Complex Crises Fund, which supports
agile, efficient responses to unforeseen crises overseas.
Additionally, we require the administration to evaluate existing
prevention efforts, report on countries at risk of genocide and mass
atrocity crimes, and recommend concrete improvements to our early
warning systems.
The bill also mandates that U.S. Foreign Service officers are trained
in atrocities recognition and response. Should this bill become law,
America's diplomats will be better equipped to act before violence
spirals out of control.
The Elie Wiesel Act establishes that it is the official policy of the
United States to regard atrocities prevention as a core national
security interest and to address root causes of conflict through our
humanitarian, development, and strategic endeavors.
Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker, genocide is preventable. The United
States is the global leader in genocide and atrocities response, but we
must shift our attention towards prevention so that no one ever becomes
a victim in the first place.
{time} 1645
H.R. 3030 is an important first step. I thank the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Crowley) for his cooperation on this piece of bipartisan
legislation, and I urge its support.
Mr. SHERMAN. I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Crowley) an original cosponsor of the bill.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for
yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and
Atrocities Prevention Act.
I thank my good friend, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Committee, Mr. Royce, and Ranking Member Engel for their support in
bringing this important legislation to the floor today.
I also appreciate the work of Ambassador Wagner on this measure, and
I am proud to be a cosponsor and the lead Democrat on this bill with
Congresswoman Wagner.
Standing up against genocide and mass atrocities is a critical
responsibility for the United States. There is no other country in the
world that can hold other nations accountable but the United States. No
other country can do it like we can--not France, not Germany, not Great
Britain, certainly not China, especially not Russia. No other country
in history has had the moral suasion of the United States.
Many of us are concerned about what is happening to our country right
now and our positioning in being able to push back against atrocities
and human rights violations around the world. I would be remiss if I
didn't mention a concern for what took place yesterday in Helsinki as
an example of a growing concern of our ability to hold and to sway
moral convictions on these issues. But it is a responsibility that is
important to our country and, more importantly, it is a responsibility
that is important to our world.
If you walk down Independence Avenue and to the Holocaust Memorial
Museum, you will see and hear the words, ``Never again.'' It is a
phrase that brings to mind some of the world's worst atrocities and
most heinous crimes.
As Elie Wiesel, who this bill is named after, and a man whom I had
the opportunity to know and be in his company
[[Page H6318]]
on many occasions, wrote, `Never again' is more than a set of words. He
went on to say, ``It's a prayer, a promise, a vow. . . . And never
again the glorification of base, ugly, dark violence.''
It also reminds us that taking responsibility for stopping atrocities
is incumbent on all of us. It requires us to put ourselves in the shoes
of the victims and to think about what we hope would be done if we were
in their place, if we faced that horror, if we faced those atrocities.
What would we want to be done on our behalf?
The measure before us takes a step in that direction. It encourages
the government to meet regularly and take steps to predict and prevent
mass atrocities. It gives strong support for the Atrocities Prevention
Board.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from New York.
Mr. CROWLEY. And it requires the training of foreign service officers
on how to take steps to recognize and prevent genocide and other
atrocities.
It is not as strong a bill as Representative Wagner and I would have
liked it to have been. I know we both wanted to see more in this bill.
But, as with most legislation, this is a very important first step,
upon which I know further progress will be made down the road.
This is an important signal from Congress that preventing atrocities
must be part and parcel of the United States foreign policy in the
White House, the State Department, the intelligence community, and
throughout our government.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly support its passage, and I encourage my
colleagues to do so as well.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), chair of the Foreign
Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, as always, I thank Chairman Royce and
Ranking Member Engel for their work in always bringing forth solid,
bipartisan bills to the House floor.
Mr. Speaker, I offer my full support for Ambassador Ann Wagner's bill
before us today, H.R. 3030, the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities
Prevention Act of 2018, of which I am proud to be a cosponsor. This
bill takes necessary and overdue steps to make preventing genocide and
other atrocities a priority in our foreign policy. Indeed, this bill
makes it clear that it will be the policy of the United States that the
prevention of genocide and other atrocities is not only in our national
security interests, but it is a core moral responsibility for us to do
so.
Far too often, these acts have been met with indifference,
indifference from responsible nations and indifference from those who
are not directly impacted by the mass murders and the torment and the
destruction. Elie Wiesel, this bill's namesake, challenged us to always
take sides, to not allow indifference or neutrality to dictate our
actions. As he said, ``Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the
victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.''
Our values and ideals as Americans dictate that we must do what we
can to prevent genocide, to prevent atrocities, and to prevent human
rights violations. This bill enshrines those principles. It ensures
that the United States is at the forefront of the fight against these
crimes against humanity, and will use the full weight and force of our
foreign policy to prevent them from ever happening again.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Ambassador Wagner for authoring this bill, I
thank the chairman and the ranking member for bringing this bill to the
floor today, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker I thank the gentleman for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I want to add my voice to commend Congresswoman Wagner,
Congressman Engel, and Congressman Crowley for working in a bipartisan
fashion to put together this important legislation.
This legislation firmly establishes that official United States
policy is to prevent genocide and other criminal atrocities, and makes
certain that it is treated as a core national security interest by
supporting the programs that can help avert the deaths of innocents
around our globe.
Representing one of the largest populations of holocaust survivors in
the Nation is one of my greatest privileges as a Member of Congress. To
honor these survivors, and to honor the 6 million Jews who did not
survive, we must do everything in our power to prevent another atrocity
like the one they experienced.
When we commemorate the Holocaust, we make a sacred promise to
ourselves and to all of our neighbors by saying and committing to
``Never again.'' This legislation puts real weight behind those words.
From the brutal lessons we have learned from crimes against humanity
that span continents and centuries, we must forge a brighter future.
Jewish tradition compels us to perform tzedakah--acts of justice--and
we are driven by tikkun olam--repairing the world. We have a
responsibility to be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves,
to make the world a better place.
But these values are not unique to Jews or to Judaism. They are
values we all strive to share.
Our Nation has the unique capability to prevent these tragedies
before they unfold.
Elie Wiesel, who I was privileged to know, the rightful namesake of
this legislation, wrote, ``We must take sides. Neutrality helps the
oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never
the tormented.''
When this bill becomes law, we can take comfort in knowing the United
States of America is taking sides, is not neutral, and is not silent in
the face of inhumanity. When we are faced with bigotry and hate, with
war crimes and crimes against humanity, with ethnic cleansing and
genocide, the United States must always remain a beacon of hope for
justice, freedom, and peace. With this bill, we do just that.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of
this measure, and I thank Ambassador Wagner and Representative Crowley
for their work.
This bill will equip our government with the tools to better monitor
and, hopefully, prevent genocide. It passed our committee with an
unanimous bipartisan voice vote.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of
my time.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Ann
Wagner, for her leadership on this important bill. I also thank the
ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Engel, for his
support, along with Mr. Sherman, on this bill.
Passage of this legislation sends a strong message of the continuing
U.S. commitment to respond to genocide and to respond to mass
atrocities as they emerge, with effective and coordinated programs that
will best protect the most vulnerable. The U.S. must be a world leader
in efforts to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support passage, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R.
3030, the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2017,
sponsored by my friend Ann Wagner. This bill will greatly strengthen
our efforts to anticipate, prevent, and mitigate genocide, crimes
against humanity, and war crimes.
Wherever there are atrocities being committed, or at risk of being
committed, our foreign service officers are also often serving on the
front lines. What H.R. 3030 would ensure is that they have the right
training to recognize and respond to early warning signs of such
crimes.
This legislation will also strengthen Congressional oversight by
requiring the President to annually report on what is happening on the
ground, how the United States has responded, and recommendations for
strengthening the U.S. response.
I commend my colleague for naming this bill after the late, iconic
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. He spoke so powerfully about the
unique, persistent evil of anti-Semitism that generated the Holocaust,
warning that ``the
[[Page H6319]]
antisemite is by definition ideologically fanatic and pathologically
racist . . . an antisemite is someone who has never met me, never heard
of me, yet he hates me.''
Mr. Wiesel and I worked together at the historic 2004 Berlin
conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE). There, 55 participating governments committed to taking
specific actions to combat anti-Semitism. In 2002, I led the original
Congressional push to place combating anti-Semitism at the top of the
OSCE agenda, and I was proud to lead this movement once again in 2004,
together with parliamentarians from Germany, the UK, and France--and
Mr. Wiesel.
In his 2004 Berlin keynote address, Mr. Wiesel said, ``We know . . .
that anti-Semitism is dangerous not only to Jews but to countries too,
where it is allowed to flourish . . . When a Jew is slapped in the
face, humankind itself falls to ground . . . Antisemitism is rooted in
hatred; its language is a language of hatred, its doctrine is filled
with hatred--and hatred by its nature, always runs overboard, crossing
geographical boundaries and ethnic affiliations. It is a contagious
disease.''
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Wiesel dedicated his life to exposing the
insidiousness of anti-Semitism and working to prevent other genocides,
including those in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan. Named for him, the Elie
Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act offers new ways for us to
strengthen our fight against genocide, and I am proud to cosponsor this
bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 3030, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________