[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.
____________________