[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1040-1043]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



     PERMITTING USE OF ROTUNDA OF CAPITOL FOR CEREMONY AS PART OF 
      COMMEMORATION OF DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE OF VICTIMS OF HOLOCAUST

  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 14) permitting the use of the 
rotunda of the Capitol for a ceremony as part of the commemoration of 
the days of remembrance victims of the Holocaust.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 14

       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the rotunda of the Capitol is authorized to 
     be used on April 18, 2001, for a ceremony as part of the 
     commemoration of the days of remembrance of victims of the 
     Holocaust. Physical preparations for the ceremony shall be 
     carried out in accordance with such conditions as the 
     Architect of the Capitol may prescribe.

                              {time}  1015

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Hoyer) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney).
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, Public Law 96-388, signed October 7 of 1980, and the 
original bill was introduced by the late Representative Sydney Yates, 
created the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. The council was 
charged with providing for appropriate ways for the Nation to 
commemorate the Days of Remembrance as an annual national civic 
commemoration of the Holocaust. As a result of this legislation, the 
first ceremony of remembrance was held in the rotunda in 1979 and has 
been held there every year since, except periods when the rotunda has 
been closed for renovations.
  House Concurrent Resolution 14 will provide for this year's annual 
national ceremony to be held April 18 in the rotunda. That ceremony 
will be the centerpiece of similar remembrance ceremonies to be held 
throughout the Nation.
  This is an important resolution, Mr. Speaker, in memory of, I think, 
one of the largest tragedies that the world has ever seen, and I urge 
that we support this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I am very pleased and proud to rise in support of this concurrent 
resolution that would grant the use of the Capitol rotunda for the 2001 
Days of Remembrance Ceremony. I certainly want to thank the new 
chairman, and I want to congratulate him also, the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Ney), who has had a distinguished career in the State legislature, 
chaired the Committee on Appropriations in the Senate in Ohio and has 
come to the House and made an extraordinary contribution and has just 
been named as chairman of the House Administration Committee. I 
congratulate him and look forward to working with him. I want to 
congratulate the chairman for his hard work in getting this resolution 
to the floor today in a very timely fashion.
  Mr. Speaker, this ceremony has occurred annually in the Capitol 
rotunda. It is the centerpiece of similar programs that occur all 
across our land. There is no doubt that the rotunda, the site of so 
many of our Nation's historical events, is a fitting and appropriate 
place for such a program. It is a place of unity, where we gather 
together as a Nation to celebrate and, yes, sometimes to mourn. On 
April 18, 2001, it will once again be at the forefront of the Nation's 
attention as we gather to remember one of the most heinous times in our 
past, and to pledge anew that it will never, never, never again happen, 
and that we will never, never again turn our backs on genocide.
  The theme of this year's program is ``Remembering the Past for the 
Sake of the Future.'' This should be more than just a theme for a few 
days; it should be a guiding principle in all of our actions.
  Sixty years ago the Nazis began their campaign of genocide against 
European Jews and others perceived to be not productive parts of the 
society. When the war finally ended, more than 11 million people, 
including 6 million Jews, died at the hands of the Nazis. In the years 
since, we have built memorials and museums so we can better remember, 
and this is certainly appropriate.
  In remembering the past, however, we must always consider the future. 
This sentiment was perhaps best stated in the 1979 report of the 
President's Commission on the Holocaust that said, ``A memorial 
unresponsive to the future would violate the memory of the past.''
  The Days of Remembrance program is a living remembrance of the past 
that should always help guide the future. It forces us to consider what 
we can do to prevent genocide from ever occurring again. It raises 
questions we often grapple with in the Congress. As we all know, Mr. 
Speaker, we grappled with it in Bosnia, in Kosovo. So it is not ancient 
history; it is recent history.
  What should we have done and what can we do in Rwanda, Afghanistan, 
the Sudan? Well, let us also use this opportunity to shine a light into 
the dark corners of our own Nation. In the past several years, we have 
seen a proliferation of hate crimes across our land. We must use the 
power that the people have granted us to pass laws to help ensure that 
these horrible acts will never go unpunished, or even perhaps more 
importantly, or as importantly, unrecognized.
  As most of my colleagues know, the Days of Remembrance Commemoration 
was created in the establishment clause of the legislation that created 
the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. I would like to thank all 
of the members, Mr. Speaker, of the Council for their tremendous work 
that ensures that this Nation and our people will never forget and will 
never allow this tragic history to repeat itself.
  I would also take a moment, and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) has 
also mentioned him, to remember the late and great Member of this House 
who served almost a half a century, Sid Yates from Illinois. Sid Yates 
kept the faith. Sid Yates kept the light burning. Sid Yates made us all 
remember. Sid Yates was a giant in this institution, a giant in this 
country; and we miss him. This commemoration will certainly be another 
remembrance of him as well. Through Sid, though he is no longer with 
us, his efforts to ensure that current and future generations never 
forget the Holocaust will reverberate for years to come.
  Mr. Speaker, I have spoken to my good friend, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Lantos), who is a strong supporter of this resolution 
and a tireless advocate for human rights. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, 
he cannot be on the House Floor today and, therefore, is unable to 
support this resolution on the floor at this time. But as our ranking 
member on the Committee on International Relations, and I see we have 
the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) here, the chairman of the 
Committee on International Relations; the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Lantos) would join the chairman in support of this resolution. I 
would like to thank him for his continuing support.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I 
would also like to urge them to participate in this event, to remember 
the past, to reflect upon our obligation to the future.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I just want to take a second to also thank the 
distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for his work on this 
important resolution and for his work on the committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Gilman).

[[Page 1041]]


  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) 
for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of H. Con. Res. 14, 
sponsored by the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) and by the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer); and I am pleased to be an original 
cosponsor of this measure. I want to commend the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for his supportive comments and his tribute to 
former Congressman Sid Yates who did so much good work in reminding all 
of us about the importance to commemorate the Holocaust.
  House Concurrent Resolution 14 permits the use of our congressional 
rotunda for the annual ceremony commemorating the Days of Remembrance 
of the victims of the Holocaust. The annual Days of Remembrance 
sponsored by our Nation's Holocaust Memorial Council, of which I am a 
congressional member, will take place this year on April 18. That 
important commemorative program allows our Congress and the Nation to 
appropriately observe the Days of Remembrance for victims of the 
Holocaust, to pay tribute to the American Army liberators of the 
concentration camp survivors. And by commemorating this enormous 
tragedy, we remind the world that we must not let it happen again 
anywhere in the world.
  Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to adopt this 
important resolution, H. Con. Res. 14.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Cantor).
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for House 
Concurrent Resolution 14, permitting the use of the rotunda of the 
Capitol to commemorate the Days of Remembrance of victims of the 
holocaust.
  The use of the Capitol rotunda for this occasion is a fitting tribute 
to the victims of the Holocaust, and I am proud that the United States 
Congress recognizes the importance of the lessons taught by their death 
and suffering. It is appropriate that we commemorate those who 
tragically lost their lives in the Holocaust. However, it is also 
important to note that the remembrance of this dark chapter of human 
history serves to remind us of what can happen when the fundamental 
tenets of democracy are discarded by dictatorial regimes.
  While we in the United States, the birthplace of Thomas Jefferson and 
James Madison, have experienced years of peace and prosperity, we must 
not forget that genocide and human rights abuses continue to occur 
elsewhere around the world. As the leader of the Free World, the United 
States must use its power and influence to bring stability to the world 
and educate people around the globe about the horrors of the Holocaust 
to ensure that it must never happen again.
  I am pleased that the growing number of community-based Holocaust 
museums around the country are a reflection of our increasing awareness 
of the lessons of the Holocaust. I am proud to be a founding trustee of 
the Virginia Holocaust Museum and applaud the efforts of those who join 
us nationwide in support of this noble cause. Only when every person 
understands the magnitude of the death, destruction, and utter horrors 
of the Holocaust can we feel we have done everything to prevent its 
recurrence.
  Therefore, as we remember the horrors of this dark chapter in human 
history and remain dedicated to increasing awareness of the Holocaust, 
I am pleased to be here in support of this resolution regarding the use 
of the Capitol rotunda on this most solemn occasion.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman 
from Maryland for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to support House Concurrent Resolution 14 to make 
use of the rotunda to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. When we 
think about the Holocaust, we must understand the centrality of an 
individual people with their passions, dreams, aspirations, and agonies 
as being the voices that sear our conscience to honor righteousness and 
embrace a future of justice for all.
  These voices strive to teach us that the Holocaust was not an 
abstract injustice that defiled, tortured and killed six million Jews, 
but a testament of faith that the origins of injustice are in the minds 
and hearts of men and women and that justice will come into the world 
only when the unjust persons change their ways in a move to love thy 
neighbor. If we refuse to hear these voices, we ourselves will be 
perpetual victims of our past and our inheritance. Let us not forget 
the victims of the Holocaust when we see the faces of desperate people.
  Mr. Speaker, I simply wanted to add my voice to that of those who not 
only want to make use of the rotunda, but those who would want to share 
our expressions and feelings of concern for a tremendous tragedy that 
wrecked our world. I urge passage of this resolution.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Maryland for yielding me this time, and I thank those who have offered 
this resolution.
  I rise in support of the resolution providing for a ceremony in 
commemoration of the Days of Remembrance of the victims of the 
Holocaust. Out of this horrific and tragic story of life and death and 
the loss of so many loved ones in a tragedy in our world history comes 
an acknowledgment that we should never, never forget.
  As my colleagues have indicated, the story of the Holocaust is more 
than the reciting of the tragedy of six million lives, not faceless 
human beings, but families, mothers and fathers, children, 
grandparents, all of whom lost their lives in the tragedy of extreme 
and brutal cruelty because they were different. So I believe what we 
are standing here today and supporting and continuing to remember is 
that we will be strong in supporting what is right, what is open, and 
what is fair and what is loving, and never, never forget what has been 
done from one human race to another.

                              {time}  1030

  I would offer to say that we should also raise up our prayers for 
peace in the Middle East and I offer my congratulations for this 
celebration.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to pay tribute to the Holocaust Museum in my 
city, the City of Houston, and thank them for what they have brought to 
our community, for they have taught us tolerance and peace and love, 
and I hope that we will continue that in this Nation.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from the State of Washington (Mr. McDermott).
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, in the history of the world, there are 
very few issues that strike us so hard as what went on during the 
Holocaust, but life goes on. I was noticing this morning that 100,000 
people have died in India in an earthquake, and it is off the front 
page of the New York Times. We pass on to the next event and the next 
event, and people tend to forget.
  Mr. Speaker, and what is important, not only for us as human beings 
in the Congress, but for the American people and the world, to not 
forget is what happens if people who care are not vigilant. People who 
know what is going on must speak out. When I think about what will go 
on over there, I always think of the statement made by Martin 
Noemuller, who said, ``When they came for the Communist, I was not a 
Communist, so I did not speak up. And when they came for the trade 
unionists, I was not a trade unionist, and so I did not speak up. And 
when they came for the socialist, I was not a socialist, and I was not 
a Jew. And when they came for me, there was nobody to speak up.''
  I think that the decision by the House of Representatives to take the 
time to make a day of remembrance in the Rotunda is a very small step 
towards helping us to remember.

[[Page 1042]]

  We, all of us, know people whose families were affected by it, and 
when you listen to their stories, one of the things I do on the 4th of 
July is give a liberty award to the immigrant to our country who has 
done things for the people of Seattle. About 3 years ago, I gave an 
award to a woman who came, when all of her family was lost, she was the 
only one who came to the United States. She opened a successful 
business, but she spent all of her extra time and money educating 
people of Seattle about what this is about. And I think that the House 
is to be commended, the leadership is to be commended to put this first 
on the agenda. Because if we ever forget what our democracy is really 
all about, we are in danger of losing it.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to be rising in support.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman).
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have some pictures on the wall in my 
den, they were left to me by my mother, pictures of people that I never 
met. They are people in Europe, some of them in Poland, especially who 
my mother would refer to as her aunt so-and-so or her cousin so-and-so, 
people that she never saw again when she left Poland as a 6-year-old 
girl.
  People who just disappeared and nobody knew what happened to them, 
but everybody knew, in reality, what happened to them. They had been 
rounded up, little kids, their parents, husbands and wives, separated 
in extermination camps, put into gas chambers and just changed into 
smoke.
  The entire world, Mr. Speaker, stood by for so long during that 
period of time. People did not want to know. It was a catastrophe of 
just enormous proportions that at the end, there were over 12 million 
people that were exterminated, 6 million of them Jews, Catholics, labor 
union workers, gypsies and others. Horrible experiments done on human 
beings just for the sadistic curiosity of so many physicians gone mad 
in Nazi Germany.
  The world turned a blind eye. Oh, they had excuses. They did not 
know. They did not hear about it. When we think about it, Mr. Speaker, 
people disappearing in the middle of the night, half of towns just 
disappearing and others thinking, thinking that they better not speak 
up, lest something happen to them.
  We must recognize this tragedy of all tragedies, Mr. Speaker. The 
action in the House today to make the Rotunda available for a 
commemoration of this terribly horrific event is something that we do 
with a great deal of sadness, but with the knowledge of knowing that if 
we did not take this kind of action to keep reminding the world that, 
indeed, these things do happen, that they can happen, and that there 
are good people who must and need to speak up, then we could never 
prevent this from happening again.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend all of our colleagues who have spoken here 
today and all who have expressed their support for this resolution, and 
I thank the sponsors of the resolution for bringing it before us today.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman) for 
his very poignant and powerful comments.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Israel).
  Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, let me thank my colleagues for their support 
in sponsorship of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, before my election to the House, I served as the 
President of the Institute on the Holocaust and the Law, and we studied 
and analyzed how laws were used not to protect people, but as 
instruments of oppression; how over 400 anti-Jewish laws were 
promulgated and formulated to discriminate, to segregate, to impoverish 
and to annihilate; how judges used the most murderous interpretation of 
law to impose death sentences for petty crimes; how law professors 
formulated lethal theories to advance a political agenda that 
discriminated against so many people.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe it is very fitting that we, as law-makers, be 
reminded of the unique role of law and the profound difference between 
law and justice.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Hoyer) for yielding me the time.
  Mr. Speaker, we should look upon the day of remembrance in the very 
same way that we look upon Martin Luther King's birthday. We need to 
remember, because if we forget, we cannot be sure that sacrifices that 
were made will not have to be made again.
  I went to school in segregated schools of the District of Columbia. 
It was not until I had the opportunity to go away to college that I 
actually learned that 6 million Jews had been murdered in World War II. 
I knew all about World War II, why did I not know about this sacrifice? 
That is what segregation and isolation from one another will do to you.
  Mr. Speaker, I remember the day there in the dormitory when sitting 
around in an integrated group that I first learned, and it struck me 
like a bolt of lightning. I could not believe it, well, believe it. 
Believe that anti-Semitism is still alive. Believe that it exists in 
all communities and in all races and in this country, and that there 
are still incidences every year reported in the North and the South and 
the East and the West, believe it.
  So as we go to the day of remembrance in this great building, let us 
understand that we are not only remembering. We remember so that we 
will not forget for a reason, because these issues of racial and 
religious hatred do not die forever, and they need, each generation, to 
vivify what they can mean. So what we do on the day of remembrance and 
what we do here in this House is most appropriate, and if we think 
about our country and the world today, we will understand as well that 
it is most necessary.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I want to express my strong support for H. 
Con. Res. 14, to authorize the use of the Rotunda of the United States 
Capitol for the national civic commemoration of the Days of Remembrance 
of the Holocaust later this year. I want to express my thanks to the 
chairman of the Committee on House Administration, Mr. Ney of Ohio, for 
his leadership in this matter, and I also want to thank my dear friend 
and distinguished colleague Mr. Hoyer of Maryland, the ranking 
Democratic member of the Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, as the only survivor of the Holocaust ever elected to 
the Congress of the United States, this resolution has special meaning 
for me. Remembering the Holocaust on this day provides us the 
opportunity to pay tribute to the vast numbers of innocent men, women 
and children who were murdered en masse by the Nazi war machine and its 
Fascist allies. It also reminds us of man's mindless inhumanity towards 
man.
  In the traumatic, final days of the Second World War, when the full 
horror of Hitler's ``Final Solution'' was brought to light, the 
international community said ``never again.'' Looking back over the 
past fifty years since the Holocaust, this hope has, unfortunately, not 
been realized. Time and time again whole populations have been 
extinguished in southeast Asia, central Africa, southeast Europe and 
elsewhere as religious, ethnic and racial hatred ran amok. Innocent 
men, women, and children have been targeted for destruction for the 
sole reason that they were of a different religious, ethnic or racial 
community.
  Mr. Speaker, this annual observance of the ``Days of Remembrance'' is 
a much-needed reminder of the nightmare of the Holocaust and the 
massacre of 6 million innocent people by a brutal and barbaric regime. 
It also reminds us that hate persists in today's world, that hate 
crimes are prosecuted each and every day, and that we must do all in 
our power to prevent hate crimes from leading to future holocausts.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Concurrent 
Resolution 14, which would permit the use of the Capitol Rotunda for 
ceremonies commemorating the Days of Remembrance of the victims of the 
Holocaust. Holocaust Remembrance Days are specially designated periods 
of time during which victims of the Holocaust are cherished and 
remembered. Further, these days serve as reminders to all citizens that 
the evils of bigotry,

[[Page 1043]]

hate, and indifference are very real, and continue to pose serious 
threats. Yet, it is in the remembrance of the Holocaust and the 
commemoration of those who perished that we overcome these evils and 
symbolize a voice that speaks for the very essence of humanity.
  I can think of no better place than the Rotunda of the United States 
Capitol to capture the appropriate elements of reverence and dignity 
necessary for the remembrance of the victims of this tragedy. And it is 
with such remembrance that we allow individuals to be educated about 
the Holocaust so that future generations will know the horrors of 
violent indifference. The United States Capitol has stood as a symbol 
for freedom and liberty, a symbol that brilliantly reflects the 
positive aspects of this country. The Capitol may once again serve as 
such a symbol, and at this time may reflect the inspiration that has 
allowed the survivors of the Holocaust and the friends and family of 
survivors to truly survive, and will also join the battle against the 
greatest enemy to the remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust, 
silence.
  Mr. Speaker, indifference is not neutral and is not unspoken. 
Indifference has a voice in the present and in the past. And as we move 
sixty years beyond the Holocaust, our obligation in honoring those who 
perished will live on and be fulfilled by telling their grim but 
inspirational story from the hall of our government reserved for the 
highest tribute, the Capitol Rotunda.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 14, 
which will allow the use of the Capitol Rotunda for an April 18th 
ceremony to pay tribute and respect for the victims of the Holocaust. 
This day will be a demonstration of respect and remembrance for the 
Jews and their families whose property was stolen, hopes and dreams 
suffocated, and lives extinguished in the Nazi death camps and 
throughout Nazi-ruled Europe.
  We also come together to recognize that if we are ever to witness a 
universal respect for human rights, we must begin by acknowledging the 
truth: Even today, governments still continue to commit atrocities 
against their own citizens while escaping the consequences of their 
actions, internally by means of repression and externally for reasons 
of political expediency.
  The events that took place under Nazi rule were real. Real people--
women, children, the old, and the infirm--were wiped out. The sheer 
scope of the slaughter was and still is shocking. And yet when so many 
react with silence or indifference to genocidal horrors occurring 
today, in Rwanda, Congo, and Bosnia, we effectively give our approval 
to genocidal abuses of power.
  We must all recognize that silence can not be acceptance when it 
comes to human rights abuses. Not just violations of the past, but also 
against violations which are occurring in our world today. We must let 
the truth about these events be known and continue to speak out against 
all instances of inhumanity.
  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have come to the floor of the U.S. House 
of Representatives today to commend the authors of H. Con. Res. 14, 
legislation that will permit the use of the Capitol rotunda for a 
ceremony as part of the commemoration of the Days of Remembrance of 
victims of the Holocaust.
  I believe it is vital for the United States to continue to lead the 
way in the remembrance and prevention of crimes against humanity. And 
that is the exact purpose served by the legislation before us today, 
which will enable us to hold a solemn ceremony in the rotunda of the 
Capitol to remember the millions of victims of the Holocaust.
  The important lesson learned by remembering the victims of the 
Holocaust is that man's inhumanity to man, if unchecked, can quickly 
result in the slaughter of millions of innocent people. Whether we 
honor the victims of the Holocaust at the U.S. Capitol, or whether we 
study the tragic story of other genocides, the universal lesson is that 
America has a national interest in assuring that the 21st century is 
not marred by genocide.
  Mr. Speaker, over the past several months I have been honored to work 
with one of my constituents, Ms. Bonnie Glogover, of Edgewater, New 
Jersey in an effort to increase awareness about the Holocaust. Ms. 
Glogover, whose father is a survivor of Auschwitz, is working to see 
that Holocaust Remembrance Day is printed on calendars to educate the 
public about this important observance. Her unending dedication to this 
worthwhile cause is a tribute to our sworn duty to never forget, and I 
am proud to be associated with her in this endeavor.
  This year, Holocaust Remembrance Day will be commemorated on April 
19, 2001. I urge all my colleagues to inform their constituents of this 
and to join House and Senate leaders in the Capitol Rotunda this April 
to remember the innocent victims of the Holocaust.
  I am honored to support H. Con. Res. 14 and I urge my colleagues to 
vote for this worthwhile legislation.
  Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend the sponsors and 
supporters of this resolution, permitting the use of the Rotunda of the 
Capitol for a ceremony as part of the commemoration of the Days of 
Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust.
  Prior to being elected to this House, I served as president of the 
Institute on the Holocaust and the Law. The Institute studies and 
analyzed how laws were used in the Holocaust as instruments of 
oppression, rather than protection. How over 400 anti-Jewish decrees 
were promulgated and formulated to discriminate, segregate, impoverish 
and annihilate. How judges used murderous interpretation of legal 
theory to impose death sentences for petty crimes. How law professors 
formulated lethal theories to advance a political agenda that affected 
millions, Jews and gentiles alike.
  I believe it is fitting that we, as lawmakers, be reminded of the 
unique role of the law in the Holocaust; and the profound and vast 
difference between law and justice.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 14.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. HOYER. 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 and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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