[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 149 (Tuesday, September 24, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6377-S6378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 3295. Mr. SCHUMER (for Mr. Hagerty) proposed an amendment to the
bill S. 91, to award a Congressional Gold Medal to 60 diplomats, in
recognition of their bravery and heroism during the Holocaust; as
follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Forgotten Heroes of the
Holocaust Congressional Gold Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The following diplomats will be honored posthumously:
Per Anger (Sweden), Jose Maria Barreto Bustios (Peru), Lars
Berg (Sweden), Philippe Bernardini (Vatican/Italy), Hiram
(Harry) Bingham IV (United States), Friedrich Born
(Switzerland), Gilberto Bosques Saldivar (Mexico), Carlos de
Liz-Texeira Branquinho (Portugal), Samuel del Campo (Chile),
Aracy de Carvalho Guimaraes Rosa (Brazil), Jose Arturo
Castellanos Contreras (El Salvador), Carl Ivan Danielsson
(Sweden), Luis Martins de Souza Dantas (Brazil), Georg
Ferdinand Duckwitz (Germany), Harald Feller (Switzerland),
Francis (Frank) Foley (United Kingdom), Jean-Edouard
Friedrich (Switzerland), Carlos Almeida Afonseca de Sampaio
Garrido (Portugal), Raymond Herman Geist (United States),
Feng-Shan Ho (Republic of China), Constantin Karadja
(Romania), Alexander Kasser (Sandor Kasza) (Sweden), Elow
Kihlgren (Sweden), Joseph Willem (Joop) Kolkman
(Netherlands), Julius Kuhl (Poland), Aleksander 4ados
(Poland), Valdemar Langlet (Sweden), Charles (Carl) Lutz
(Switzerland), George Mandel-Mantello (El Salvador), Florian
Manoliu (Romania), Manuel Antonio Munoz Borrero (Ecuador),
Salomon Jacob (Sally) Noach (Netherlands), Giorgio (Jorge)
Perlasca (Spain/Italy), Ernst Prodolliet (Switzerland),
Eduardo Propper de Callejon (Spain), Franjo Puncuch
(Yugoslavia/Slovenia), Konstanty Rokicki (Poland), Sebastian
de Romero Radigales (Spain), Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli
(Vatican/Italy), Angelo Rotta (Vatican/Italy), Albert Emile
Routier (Turkey/France), Jose Ruiz Santaella (Spain), Stefan
Ryniewicz (Poland), Angel Sanz-Briz (Spain), Abdol-Hossein
Sardari (Iran), Henryk Slawik (Poland), Robert Smallbones
(United Kingdom), Aristides de Sousa Mendes (Portugal), Jan
Spisiak (Slovakia), Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara (Japan),
Ireanaeus Typaldos (Spain), Alexander (Sandor) Ujvary
(Vatican/Hungary), Selahattin Ulkumen (Turkey), Gennaro
Verolino (Vatican/Italy), Vladimir Vochoc (Czech Republic),
Ernst Vonrufs (Switzerland), Raoul Wallenberg (Sweden),
Guelfo Zamboni (Italy), Peter Zurcher (Switzerland), and Jan
Zwartendijk (Netherlands).
(2) On September 1, 1939, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis began
their invasion of Europe, which started World War II and
threw the world into chaos. The Nazi plan of mass murder of
the Jewish population was in full motion. As battles were
being fought between countries, Jews were being rounded up
and sent to concentration camps throughout Europe. This
process began a mass exodus of people out of Europe,
especially those in the Jewish community.
(3) During the war, members of the Jewish community used
every tool and means at their disposal to flee Nazi tyranny.
Thousands tried to flee on trains or boats to escape from
Europe.
(4) While the armies of countries were fighting each other,
a handful of diplomats, from around the world, stepped
forward and took heroic actions to save Jews fleeing Europe.
This was an incredibly dangerous process. If the Nazis
discovered the actions of these diplomats they would be
expelled, as a few of them were. Also, while worrying about
the Nazis, diplomats had to worry about their careers and
livelihoods back home. Many of them had strict orders from
their home countries to not aid the Jewish population in any
way.
(5) These diplomats used every means at their disposal to
help Jews fleeing persecution. One of the most powerful tools
the diplomats had to use was the issuing of passports and
travel visas contrary to the instruction of the governments
of the diplomats. This process alone is responsible for
saving hundreds of thousands of Jewish families in Europe.
This was not the only tool used as many of the diplomats were
connected with the local populations and were great
communicators for Jews trying to travel underground. They
were able set up safehouses and getaways to hide Jews and
especially Jewish children from Nazi authorities. In the most
dangerous of times, several of these diplomats confronted the
Nazis directly on behalf of the Jews and personally put
themselves in grave danger.
(6) Every diplomat knew the dangers and knew what they were
up against, and still pushed forward to save those in the
most danger.
(7) The Congressional Gold Medal authorized under this Act
will help remind humanity that when the diplomats were faced
with terrible crises, they went beyond the fold, including
risking their careers and the lives of themselves and their
families, to engage in this humanitarian mission. The
diplomats of today and future generations can look towards
these heroes and be inspired by their lives of heroism and
sacrifice.
(8) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as stating or
implying that this group of honorees encompasses everyone who
took this type of heroic action during this era. As the title
attests, the ``Forgotten Heroes'' performed these deeds out
of righteousness, with no expectation of public acclaim. The
sponsors of this Act wish to honor this group of individuals
for whose deeds the historical record is currently definitive
and well-documented. Given that historical research is
ongoing, in the event that robust documentation from
professional historians, expert stakeholders, and public
input identify others worthy of official recognition, future
Congresses retain the right to recognize additional forgotten
heroes of the Holocaust pursuant to future legislation.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate
shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on
behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate
design in honor of the 60 diplomats identified in section
2(1), in recognition of their brave and vital service of
saving Jews during World War II.
(b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury
(referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a
single gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and
inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
(c) Presentation of Medal.--The single gold medal presented
under subsection (a) shall be presented collectively to the
eldest next of kin of each of the 60 diplomats identified in
section 2(1), who shall receive the medal as part of a
delegation consisting of a senior official representative of
the country that each diplomat served and the cochairs of the
Forgotten Heroes of the Holocaust Committee.
(d) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.--
[[Page S6378]]
(1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal in
honor of the 60 diplomats identified in section 2(1), the
gold medal shall be given to the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum, where it will be available for display as
appropriate and available for research.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum should make the
gold medal awarded pursuant to this Act available for display
elsewhere, particularly at appropriate locations associated
with Holocaust remembrance.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of
the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price sufficient
to cover the costs thereof, including labor, materials, dies,
use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medal.--Medals struck pursuant to this Act are
national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31,
United States Code.
(b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and
5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under
this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to
be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise
Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of
the medals struck under this Act.
(b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of
duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be
deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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