[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 111 (Tuesday, June 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3022-S3024]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF THE DACHAU 
                 CONCENTRATION CAMP DURING WORLD WAR II

  Mr. GARDNER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 473, S. Res. 542.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 542) commemorating the 75th 
     anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau concentration 
     camp during World War II.

  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 all after the resolving clause 
and insert the part printed in italic, and with an amendment to strike 
the preamble and insert the part printed in italic, as follows

                              S. Res. 542

       Whereas the Dachau concentration camp, established in March 
     1933--

[[Page S3023]]

       (1) was the first concentration camp established by the 
     German National Socialist, or ``Nazi'', government;
       (2) served as a model for all subsequent Nazi concentration 
     camps;
       (3) was a training center for the notoriously brutal SS 
     concentration camp guards; and
       (4) operated continuously until the end of World War II in 
     1945;
       Whereas the Dachau concentration camp housed Germans who 
     were deemed political, racial, or social threats by the Nazi 
     regime, including Communists, Social Democrats, Jews, Roma, 
     members of the clergy, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other 
     religious and cultural minorities;
       Whereas, in addition to Germans, prisoners at the Dachau 
     concentration camp included Poles, Hungarians, Austrians, 
     Italians, Lithuanians, Czechs, Slovenes, Belgians, and other 
     foreign nationals from countries occupied or invaded by 
     Germany;
       Whereas the Nazis imprisoned more than 200,000 civilians in 
     the Dachau concentration camp and the more than 100 subcamps 
     of the Dachau concentration camp;
       Whereas the Nazis murdered tens of thousands of innocent 
     civilians, and allowed countless others to die from disease, 
     starvation, malnutrition, and exhaustion, at the Dachau 
     concentration camp, one of many camps where the Nazis 
     brutally killed millions of people, including 6,000,000 Jews 
     during the Holocaust;
       Whereas the Nazis tortured, and conducted medical 
     experiments that led to the death or permanent disabling of, 
     hundreds of civilian prisoners at the Dachau concentration 
     camp, including by--
       (1) subjecting the prisoners to pressure extremes;
       (2) submersing the prisoners in freezing water;
       (3) forcing the prisoners to drink salt water; and
       (4) infecting the prisoners with malaria;
       Whereas the Nazis subjected civilian prisoners at the 
     Dachau concentration camp to forced labor--
       (1) first for the initial construction and expansion of the 
     camp; and
       (2) later primarily for armaments production to supply the 
     German military;
       Whereas, following the advance of Allied Forces, the Nazi 
     regime began the systematic transfer of prisoners from 
     evacuated concentration camps to the Dachau concentration 
     camp for continued imprisonment, resulting in the deaths of 
     thousands of weakened and malnourished prisoners and leading 
     to the discovery of the infamous ``Dachau death train'', 
     consisting of nearly 40 railroad cars containing the bodies 
     of approximately 2,310 prisoners;
       Whereas, in December 1943, Dwight D. Eisenhower was 
     appointed as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary 
     Forces and led the formal coordination of the Allied Forces, 
     with the mission to liberate Europe;
       Whereas the main Dachau concentration camp was liberated on 
     April 29, 1945;
       Whereas that liberation was led by--
       (1) the 45th Infantry ``Thunderbird'' Division of the 
     Seventh Army of the United States (referred to in this 
     preamble as the ``45th Infantry Division''), under the 
     leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Felix Sparks, member of the 
     Colorado Army National Guard and Commander of the Third 
     Battalion of the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry 
     Division;
       (2) the 42nd Infantry ``Rainbow'' Division of the Seventh 
     Army of the United States (referred to in this preamble as 
     the ``42nd Infantry Division''), under the leadership of 
     Brigadier General Henning Linden; and
       (3) the 20th Armored Division of the Seventh Army of the 
     United States (referred to in this preamble as the ``20th 
     Armored Division'');
       Whereas the 45th Infantry Division--
       (1) was composed of National Guard units from Colorado, 
     Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico; and
       (2) deployed in June 1943 in support of the Allied Forces 
     during World War II;
       Whereas the 42nd Infantry Division--
       (1) was composed of personnel from every State of the 
     United States; and
       (2) deployed in December 1944 in support of the Allied 
     Forces during World War II;
       Whereas the 20th Armored Division--
       (1) was activated at Fort Campbell and, until October of 
     1944, trained soldiers and qualified those soldiers for 
     overseas shipment as replacement soldiers for armored units; 
     and
       (2) deployed in February 1945 in support of the Allied 
     Forces during World War II;
       Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 45th 
     Infantry Division suffered--
       (1) 1,831 deaths in battle; and
       (2) 7,791 battle casualties;
       Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 42nd 
     Infantry Division suffered--
       (1) 655 deaths in battle; and
       (2) 3,971 battle casualties;
       Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 20th 
     Armored Division suffered--
       (1) 59 deaths in battle; and
       (2) 186 battle casualties;
       Whereas, in 1985, the United States Army Center of Military 
     History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 
     honored the 45th Infantry Division, the 42nd Infantry 
     Division, and the 20th Armored Division with recognition as 
     ``liberating units''; and
       Whereas commemoration of the liberation of the Dachau 
     concentration camp will instill in all people of the United 
     States a greater awareness of the unspeakable tragedies of 
     the Holocaust: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates April 29, 2020, as the 75th anniversary of 
     the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp during World 
     War II;
       (2) calls on all people of the United States to remember 
     the tens of thousands of innocent victims murdered at the 
     Dachau concentration camp as part of the Holocaust, the 
     6,000,000 Jews killed throughout the Holocaust, and all of 
     the victims of the Nazi reign of terror; and
       (3) recognizes the valorous efforts of the 45th Infantry 
     Division, the 42nd Infantry Division, and the 20th Armored 
     Division of the Seventh Army of the United States in the 
     liberation of the thousands of individuals imprisoned at the 
     Dachau concentration camp.
  Mr. GARDNER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
committee-reported substitute amendment to the resolution be agreed to; 
that the resolution, as amended, be agreed to; that the committee-
reported amendment to the preamble be agreed to; that the preamble, as 
amended, be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered 
made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was 
agreed to.
  The resolution (S. Res. 542), as amended, was agreed to.
  The committee-reported amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, reads as 
follows:

                              S. Res. 542

       Whereas the Dachau concentration camp, established in March 
     1933--
       (1) was the first concentration camp established by the 
     German National Socialist, or ``Nazi'', government;
       (2) served as a model for all subsequent Nazi concentration 
     camps;
       (3) was a training center for the notoriously brutal SS 
     concentration camp guards; and
       (4) operated continuously until the end of World War II in 
     1945;
       Whereas the Dachau concentration camp housed Germans who 
     were deemed political, racial, or social threats by the Nazi 
     regime, including Communists, Social Democrats, Jews, Roma, 
     members of the clergy, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other 
     religious and cultural minorities;
       Whereas, in addition to Germans, prisoners at the Dachau 
     concentration camp included Poles, Hungarians, Austrians, 
     Italians, Lithuanians, Czechs, Slovenes, Belgians, and other 
     foreign nationals from countries occupied or invaded by 
     Germany;
       Whereas the Nazis imprisoned more than 200,000 civilians in 
     the Dachau concentration camp and the more than 100 subcamps 
     of the Dachau concentration camp;
       Whereas the Nazis murdered tens of thousands of innocent 
     civilians, and allowed countless others to die from disease, 
     starvation, malnutrition, and exhaustion, at the Dachau 
     concentration camp, one of many camps where the Nazis 
     brutally killed millions of people, including 6,000,000 Jews 
     during the Holocaust;
       Whereas the Nazis tortured, and conducted medical 
     experiments that led to the death or permanent disabling of, 
     hundreds of civilian prisoners at the Dachau concentration 
     camp, including by--
       (1) subjecting the prisoners to pressure extremes;
       (2) submersing the prisoners in freezing water;
       (3) forcing the prisoners to drink salt water; and
       (4) infecting the prisoners with malaria;
       Whereas the Nazis subjected civilian prisoners at the 
     Dachau concentration camp to forced labor--
       (1) first for the initial construction and expansion of the 
     camp; and
       (2) later primarily for armaments production to supply the 
     German military;
       Whereas, following the advance of Allied Forces, the Nazi 
     regime began the systematic transfer of prisoners from 
     evacuated concentration camps to the Dachau concentration 
     camp for continued imprisonment, resulting in the deaths of 
     thousands of weakened and malnourished prisoners and leading 
     to the discovery of the infamous ``Dachau death train'', 
     consisting of nearly 40 railroad cars containing the bodies 
     of approximately 2,310 prisoners;
       Whereas, in December 1943, Dwight D. Eisenhower was 
     appointed as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary 
     Forces and led the formal coordination of the Allied Forces, 
     with the mission to liberate Europe;
       Whereas the main Dachau concentration camp was liberated on 
     April 29, 1945;
       Whereas that liberation was led by--
       (1) the 45th Infantry ``Thunderbird'' Division of the 
     Seventh Army of the United States (referred to in this 
     preamble as the ``45th Infantry Division''), under the 
     leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Felix Sparks, member of the 
     Colorado Army National Guard and Commander of the Third 
     Battalion of the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry 
     Division;
       (2) the 42nd Infantry ``Rainbow'' Division of the Seventh 
     Army of the United States (referred to in this preamble as 
     the ``42nd Infantry Division''), under the leadership of 
     Brigadier General Henning Linden; and
       (3) the 20th Armored Division of the Seventh Army of the 
     United States (referred to in this preamble as the ``20th 
     Armored Division'');
       Whereas the 45th Infantry Division--

[[Page S3024]]

       (1) was composed of National Guard units from Colorado, 
     Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico; and
       (2) deployed in June 1943 in support of the Allied Forces 
     during World War II;
       Whereas the 42nd Infantry Division--
       (1) was composed of personnel from every State of the 
     United States; and
       (2) deployed in December 1944 in support of the Allied 
     Forces during World War II;
       Whereas the 20th Armored Division--
       (1) was activated at Fort Campbell and, until October of 
     1944, trained soldiers and qualified those soldiers for 
     overseas shipment as replacement soldiers for armored units; 
     and
       (2) deployed in February 1945 in support of the Allied 
     Forces during World War II;
       Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 45th 
     Infantry Division suffered--
       (1) 1,831 deaths in battle; and
       (2) 7,791 battle casualties;
       Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 42nd 
     Infantry Division suffered--
       (1) 655 deaths in battle; and
       (2) 3,971 battle casualties;
       Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 20th 
     Armored Division suffered--
       (1) 59 deaths in battle; and
       (2) 186 battle casualties;
       Whereas, in 1985, the United States Army Center of Military 
     History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 
     honored the 45th Infantry Division, the 42nd Infantry 
     Division, and the 20th Armored Division with recognition as 
     ``liberating units''; and
       Whereas commemoration of the liberation of the Dachau 
     concentration camp will instill in all people of the United 
     States a greater awareness of the unspeakable tragedies of 
     the Holocaust: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates April 29, 2020, as the 75th anniversary of 
     the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp during World 
     War II;
       (2) calls on all people of the United States to remember 
     the tens of thousands of innocent victims murdered at the 
     Dachau concentration camp as part of the Holocaust, the 
     6,000,000 Jews killed throughout the Holocaust, and all of 
     the victims of the Nazi reign of terror; and
       (3) recognizes the valorous efforts of the 45th Infantry 
     Division, the 42nd Infantry Division, and the 20th Armored 
     Division of the Seventh Army of the United States in the 
     liberation of the thousands of individuals imprisoned at the 
     Dachau concentration camp.

                          ____________________