[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1019-1023]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     COMMEMORATING 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ

  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1044) commemorating the 65th 
anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration and 
extermination camp, honoring the victims of the Holocaust, and 
expressing commitment to strengthen the fight against bigotry and 
intolerance, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1044

       Whereas during the Holocaust, an estimated 6,000,000 Jews 
     and other targeted groups were murdered by the Nazis and 
     their collaborators;
       Whereas, on January 27, 1945, Auschwitz, a Nazi 
     concentration and extermination camp, including Birkenau and 
     other related camps, was liberated by the Soviet Army;
       Whereas Auschwitz, located in Poland, was the largest 
     complex of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps;
       Whereas according to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, between 
     1940 and 1945, the Nazis deported at a minimum 1,300,000 
     people to Auschwitz, and of these, murdered 1,100,000;
       Whereas an estimated 960,000 Jews were systematically 
     murdered in Auschwitz during the Holocaust;
       Whereas Auschwitz was also used to murder Poles, Roma, 
     Soviet Prisoners of War, those helping to hide Jews and 
     others the Nazis deemed inferior or that held different 
     political views;
       Whereas victims of Auschwitz were systematically murdered 
     in gas chambers and many were starved to death, tortured, and 
     subjected to forced labor and criminal medical experiments;
       Whereas the complex of the Auschwitz concentration and 
     extermination camp has come to symbolize the mass murder and 
     inhumanity committed during the Holocaust;
       Whereas the famous ``Arbeit Macht Frei'' (Work Will Make 
     You Free) sign over the entrance to Auschwitz was stolen on 
     December 18, 2009, and later recovered and the Polish police 
     arrested the alleged culprits behind the theft;
       Whereas according to the Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism 
     Report released by the Department of State's Office of the 
     Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, ``[o]ver 
     the last decade, United States embassies and consulates have 
     reported an upsurge in anti-Semitism . . . and that [a]nti-
     Semitic crimes range from acts of violence, including 
     terrorist attacks against Jews, to the desecration and 
     destruction of Jewish property . . .''; and
       Whereas in 2005, United Nations General Assembly resolution 
     60/7 established January 27, the anniversary of the 
     liberation of Auschwitz, as International Holocaust 
     Remembrance Day for the world to honor the victims of the 
     Holocaust: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) commemorates the 65th anniversary of the liberation of 
     Auschwitz;
       (2) honors the victims of Auschwitz and other Nazi 
     concentration and extermination camps, and all those who 
     perished at the hands of the Nazis;
       (3) expresses gratitude to the Allied soldiers, underground 
     fighters, and all those whose efforts helped defeat the Nazi 
     regime and liberate Auschwitz and other concentration and 
     extermination camps during World War II;
       (4) reaffirms its commitment to enhance Holocaust education 
     at home and abroad and to ensure that what happened in 
     Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration and extermination 
     camps is never allowed to happen again; and
       (5) urges all countries to enhance their efforts to combat 
     bigotry, racism, intolerance, and anti-Semitism.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Klein) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
resolution and yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  As an original cosponsor of this legislation, I would like to thank 
the author of this resolution, my good friend from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) for authoring this important statement. This resolution 
recognizes the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
  As the many in this Chamber know, Auschwitz was one of several Nazi 
concentration and extermination camps. Auschwitz served as a death 
factory of Eastern Europe's Jewish community and many others who were 
persecuted and murdered by the Nazis. On January 27, 1945, Auschwitz 
was liberated by Allied Forces, and that day is commemorated around the 
world as International Day of Holocaust Remembrance.
  Today, Auschwitz is a reminder of the consequences of hatred, 
bigotry, and humanity's worst. The words, ``Never again,'' are a 
mission, a goal to ensure that humanity never again sinks to those 
depths. This resolution reminds us of this purpose and focuses our 
efforts on education and prevention.
  This is something that I have personally been working on for many 
years. As a member of the Florida Senate, I helped pass the first 
requirement for Holocaust education in public school curriculum. Now, 
many States have followed suit, and more American children of all walks 
of life are learning these important lessons.
  In Congress, I have learned that Holocaust education can take many 
forms. Just down the street from the U.S. Capitol is the United States 
Holocaust Memorial Museum. Since I've come to Congress, Congressman 
Mike Pence and I have sought to bring new Members of Congress every 2 
years to the Holocaust Museum so they can bear witness to this tragic 
history. They take this knowledge with them and bring it back to their 
districts across America and use their new understanding to raise 
awareness of anti-Semitism and bigotry around the world.
  I would like to thank Ms. Ros-Lehtinen for focusing this resolution 
on Holocaust education. As the generation of American liberators and 
Holocaust survivors begins to pass away, the mission of education and 
of ``Never again'' is more critical than ever.
  Finally, I would like to acknowledge the many ceremonies that were 
held last week in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 
including one at Auschwitz, attended by Poland's President and Prime 
Minister, along with education ministers from nearly 30 nations and 
about 150 Holocaust survivors. At this commemoration, Israeli Prime 
Minister Netanyahu proclaimed, ``We will not allow the deniers of the 
Holocaust . . . to erase

[[Page 1020]]

or distort the memory [of what happened].'' This is our mission as 
well, and today the House of Representatives should speak with one 
voice in support of this mission.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.

                              {time}  1545

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise today in support of my bill, House Resolution 1044, 
commemorating this year as the 65th anniversary of the liberation of 
Auschwitz, the largest of the Nazi extermination camps. Over a million 
people were systematically tortured and brutally murdered there. The 
Nazis at Auschwitz conducted cruel medical experiments on prisoners, 
including children. They intentionally infected prisoners with diseases 
and performed forced sterilizations and castrations on adults.
  Most of those who perished at Auschwitz were Jews. But others that 
the Nazis perceived as enemies or inferior to Hitler's Aryan image were 
also murdered at Auschwitz. It was hell on Earth. Leo Schneiderman, a 
Holocaust survivor said the following about his arrival at Auschwitz, 
and I quote: ``When we came in, the minute the gates opened up, we 
heard screams and barking of dogs, and then we got out of the train. 
And everything went so fast. Men separated from women. Children torn 
from the arms of mothers. The elderly chased like cattle. The sick, the 
disabled were handled like packs of garbage. My mother ran over to me 
and grabbed me by the shoulders, and she told me, `Leibele, I'm not 
going to see you no more. Take care of your brother.'''
  After years of misery and suffering, only a few thousands had 
remained when the Soviet Army arrived on a snowy day in 1945. Most of 
those survivors were too weak to realize that they had been liberated. 
We must remember what happened and ensure that humanity always prevails 
over hateful savagery and oppression.
  The resolution we are considering today, Mr. Speaker, commemorates 
the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and honors the 
victims who perished at the hands of the Nazis. It expresses gratitude 
to the people whose efforts helped defeat the Nazi regime. It reaffirms 
the commitment of the House to bolster Holocaust education here in the 
United States and abroad, and to ensure that what happened during the 
Holocaust is never allowed to happen again.
  And it also urges all countries to enhance their efforts to fight 
bigotry, racism, intolerance, and anti-Semitism. We must heed the 
lessons of history, remain vigilant, and stand firmly against purveyors 
of hatred who incite to violence against Israel, against the Jewish 
people, and all of us who stand for liberty and the fundamental rights 
of all human beings. As Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said at a 
ceremony last week which marked the 65th anniversary of the liberation 
of Auschwitz, and I quote: ``We will always remember what the Nazi 
Amalek did to us, and we won't forget to be prepared for the new 
Amalek, who is making an appearance on the stage of history and once 
again threatening to destroy the Jews. We will not take this lightly 
and believe that these are empty statements. We will never forget and 
always remember to stand guard.''
  So as we commemorate the 65th anniversary of the liberation of 
Auschwitz, I urge my colleagues to keep those words in mind and work to 
support and ensure that the world will never again see another 
Holocaust. I would also like to use this opportunity to say that I will 
be introducing a bill this week that will open the door for Holocaust 
survivors to bring Holocaust-era insurance claims against insurance 
companies in the U.S. courts. This bill will force insurance companies 
to disclose the names of Holocaust insurance policy holders.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to render their full 
support to this resolution.
  I reserve the balance of our time.
  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Texas, Judge Poe, a member of our Committee on Foreign 
Affairs.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Auschwitz was one of several if not many 
concentration camps that were established by the Nazis. In 1945, a 
young, 18-year old teenager who'd never been more than 50 miles from 
home showed up, along with other members of the Seventh Army, at a 
place called Dachau in Germany, and he helped liberate that 
concentration camp. That camp had been open from 1933 to 1945, where 
scientific experiments were done on people, ordered by the Nazis. This 
was the first concentration camp in Germany. That 18-year old that 
helped liberate that camp was my father. And he never talked much about 
World War II. But from time to time, even to this day, he mentions the 
word Dachau because that had such a tremendous impact on him.
  I have had the opportunity, along with my son Kurt, to go to Germany 
to see this place where people were tortured, humiliated, and murdered 
by the Nazis. Auschwitz was one. There are many others. And yet we 
should remember all the places where people were tortured in the name 
of hate, and we should remember the survivors of these concentration 
camps, and we should remember them forever.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the ranking member on the 
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade.
  Mr. ROYCE. I rise in support of this resolution commemorating the 
65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I'm an original 
cosponsor of this bill. But I'd like to thank the author of this 
resolution, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, and Chairman Berman as well for their 
leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, during World War II, my father was part of the Allied 
Forces who liberated Dachau. It was a concentration camp of similar 
horrors to that of Auschwitz, as Mr. Poe expressed. And when they took 
the camp, he took pictures to document the tragedy, to document the 
horror of what he witnessed, and he has used them ever since, even to 
this day, in terms of lecturing to high school classes.
  Mr. Speaker, importantly, we are marking this anniversary. We do so 
to remember the Holocaust and its victims. Inevitably the refrain 
``Never Again'' comes to our lips. But, unfortunately, we know that 
this type of terror continues. Maybe not on the magnitude that it 
occurred during the Holocaust, but in the North Korean police state, 
where 200,000 are held in a system of political concentration camps 
which are modern day gulags, and the pictures of those imprisoned in 
North Korea, malnourished, with striped pajamas, are jarringly familiar 
to those of us who saw those photographs, either at Dachau or at 
Auschwitz.
  Of course, like Nazi Germany, many of the regimes that have no 
respect for their own, like North Korea, are hostile also to us. High 
school students my father has lectured about World War II often ask why 
the world was so asleep to Adolf Hitler's horrors. Of course the world 
was only slowly learning about the depth of what was occurring in camps 
like Auschwitz. But with respect to today's tragedies, we don't have 
such an excuse.
  Mr. Speaker, on the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, 
all of us, Congress and the administration, can resolve to do more in 
the cause of freedom, to do more to commit the United States to make 
certain that nothing like the Holocaust ever occurs again. And we can 
do more to remember the victims of that senseless slaughter.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and we yield back the balance of our time.
  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady and the 
speakers this afternoon on this very important resolution. I urge 
Members of this Chamber to support this resolution and send a strong 
message worldwide, never again.

[[Page 1021]]


  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, the Auschwitz concentration camp serves as a 
tragic reminder of the millions of innocent men, women and children who 
lost their lives in the Holocaust. Yet it also is a standing testament 
to all those who risked their own lives to defeat the Nazi regime.
  I would like to thank the Ranking Member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for 
bringing this resolution to the floor, and I am proud to cosponsor H. 
Res. 1044, a resolution commemorating the 65th anniversary of the 
liberation of Auschwitz.
  On January 27, 1945, Allied Forces liberated the Auschwitz 
concentration camp where victims were systematically murdered in gas 
chambers, starved, tortured and subjected to forced labor and cruel 
medical experiments. According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, 
over one million people lost their lives at Auschwitz.
  Auschwitz was the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp, 
and its buildings have come to symbolize the sheer inhumanity of the 
Holocaust. As we mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of 
Auschwitz, let us recommit ourselves to combating bigotry, racism, 
intolerance and anti-Semitism.
  As the co-chair of the Congressional Anti-Semitism Caucus, I stand in 
support of the resolution. With its passage, we remember the truth of 
the Holocaust and say with one resounding voice, ``Never again!''
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, this year we remember the 65th Anniversary 
of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by U.S. Armed 
Forces. After Auschwitz opened in 1940 the Nazi army wasted little time 
in rounding up Polish prisoners for imprisonment at this killing field.
  Auschwitz-Birkenau, also known as Auschwitz II, was the largest 
killing center of all. SS authorities established it in the spring of 
1942. It was not subordinated to the regional SS, but was part of the 
SS Economic-Administration Main Office.
  ``Block 10'' was where the Nazis, including Mengele, the ``Angel of 
Death,'' conducted unspeakable medical experiments on prisoners and 
``Block 11'' was where people were lined up against a wall and shot.
  Before the death camp's liberation on January 27, 1945, almost a 
million Jews from Poland and adjoining nations died there along with 
21,000 Roma (gypsies) and countless homosexuals, communists and Soviet 
and Ukrainian POWs. At least 75,000 Poles were summarily executed. When 
all acts of horror ceased, the Nazis had murdered 1.1 million people at 
this site.
  Mr. Marian Wojciechowski, a constituent and lifelong friend of mine, 
is a survivor of Auschwitz and Block 11. He served as an officer in the 
Polish cavalry and bravely fought Nazi tanks as they rolled into his 
homeland of Poland near the Czech border as World War II began on 
September 1, 1939.
  He and colleagues in his unit fought with such valor against the 
invaders they were awarded Poland's highest military medal, the Virtuti 
Militari. On September 17, 1939, while in battle on the eastern front 
against the Soviet Army, he received a bullet wound to the head--but 
Marian survived.
  For two years, Marian joined as a member of the Polish Underground 
Resistance (Armia Krajowa), which worked closely with British and 
Polish intelligence to defeat the Nazis. Their bravery and sacrifice 
made them a prime target for the German Gestapo. He was captured and 
taken to Auschwitz when a letter from a member of the Underground 
Resistance addressed to him was intercepted by the Germans.
  While a prisoner at Radom and then Auschwitz, Marian was brutally 
beaten, tortured, and subjected to nightmarish conditions. He became 
very ill and survived serious illness, even typhus. At times, he was 
beaten so severely that he would lose consciousness. The Nazis would 
revive him by pouring buckets of water on his head, and once he 
regained his senses, the Nazis would beat him some more to gain 
information about the Underground--but miraculously Marian survived.
  Marian, now 95 years of age and commissioned as Lieutenant in the 
Polish Cavalry this past August during WWII commemorative ceremonies at 
Mokra, Poland, has described some of the horrific acts that he 
witnessed in that horrible place.
  Amazingly Mr. Wojciechowski did what 1.1 million innocents were 
unable to do--he survived Auschwitz. He has taken it upon himself to be 
a keeper of the flame of historical remembrance as contained in the 
book, ``Seven Roads to Freedom''. His is a story of exceptional 
resilience, strength and the triumph of the human spirit, and love of 
liberty. As we reflect on the horrors of World War II, the Holocaust, 
and the Auschwitz concentration camp we honor and remember stories like 
his, mourn the stories which were never told, and reflect on the price 
of freedom.
  Mr. WEINER. Mr. Speaker, I commend to my colleagues the remarks 
recently made by Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal 
Communications Commission and head of the Presidential delegation that 
visited Auschwitz on the 65th anniversary of its liberation.
  Drawing upon his strong personal connection to the atrocities that 
occurred there, Chairman Genachowski's remarks captured the spirit of 
the anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation, and highlighted our 
obligation to fight hatred and intolerance by never forgetting the 
stories of the prisoners of Auschwitz and the forces who freed them.
  I would like to ask unanimous consent to insert Chairman 
Genachowski's remarks into the Record.

               Auschwitz: Remembrance and Responsibility

                   (Oswiecim, Poland, Jan. 27, 2010)

       Thank you to the government and people of Poland for 
     hosting this important event, and to the International 
     Auschwitz Council and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
       I'm grateful to President Obama for asking me to lead the 
     delegation representing the United States on the occasion of 
     the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I'm 
     privileged to be part of such a distinguished delegation, 
     along with Assistant to the President Susan Sher, Ambassador 
     Lee Feinstein, Special Envoy Hanna Rosenthal, and three 
     extraordinary survivors of the Holocaust, each with powerful 
     experiences and deeply noble lives: Mr. Roman Kent, Ms. 
     Charlene Schiff, and Ms. Eda Sternberg-Powidzki.
       I also welcome colleagues from the United States Department 
     of Education, here to participate in the Education Ministers' 
     Conference on ``Auschwitz: Memory, Responsibility, 
     Education''--Matthew Yale, who is the department's Deputy 
     Chief of Staff, and Phil Rosenfelt, who is Deputy General 
     Counsel and the Secretary of Education's designated 
     representative to the council for the Holocaust Museum.
       As head of this delegation to Auschwitz, I was sent to 
     mourn, to remember, to testify--for I have a connection with 
     this part of Europe, and with the solemn grounds on which we 
     stand today. Genachowski is a name pronounced easily in this 
     part of the world. My family has roots in Poland, Ukraine, 
     Hungary, Romania, and other nearby countries.
       Roots like Bella Rabinovitch and her family, a Jewish 
     family.
       Bella was a mother of four--three grown girls and a boy--
     living in Belgium in the first half of the last century. Her 
     husband, Chaim Ben Zion, was the Cantor in Antwerp's main 
     synagogue. His gift was his voice, which he used to lead the 
     congregation in prayer and to sing his beloved operas. 
     Bella's children were married; young grandchildren were part 
     of the family mix. A nice life for a girl originally from a 
     poor rural village in the Ukraine.
       But as the German invasion of Europe spread into Belgium, 
     Bella's world began to crumble. One daughter and son-in-law 
     fled the country, fearing the worst. Then Bella's husband and 
     son were arrested and sent to a slave labor camp. Another 
     son-in-law, Shimon, was picked up by the SS on a streetcar 
     (his identity card checked; it was marked ``J''). He brazenly 
     escaped, and that night left the country with his wife, 
     Bella's daughter Dina, and their five-year-old son Azriel.
       Of course, the worst was yet to come.
       Bella went into hiding with her remaining daughter, son-in-
     law, and grandson. Like so many others, they were eventually 
     discovered. The Nazis gave Bella the choice to stay in 
     Antwerp. She chose the gruesome transport with her family.
       On April 19, 1942, Bella and what was left of her family in 
     Belgium were packed onto a train along with 1,396 others. 
     After three days in the cattle car, they arrived at 
     Auschwitz-Birkenau.
       The meticulous Nazi records are clear on the dates. But 
     there is much we can only wonder about.
       Did they see the sign ``Arbeit Macht Frei'' (so callously 
     stolen recently, and fortunately recovered)? Did they know 
     what was next? Did they recognize that smell in the air? When 
     the train stopped they were unloaded into a line where fates 
     were decided.
       The records state that Bella Rabinovitch, along with Sara, 
     Isaac and four-year-old Jacob were ``Gazes a L'Arivee''--
     gassed on arrival. Over 1,000 of the 1,400 passengers on that 
     train were gassed on arrival.
       Bella is not famous, but you knew her story already, a 
     story with millions of different beginnings but one tragic 
     ending.
       Bella Rabinovitch was my great-grandmother. I am the 
     descendant of a victim whose ashes reside on these grounds.
       My father, Azriel Genachowski, was the five-year-old boy I 
     told you about. His path to freedom with his parents was 
     harrowing, and at several key moments over many months non-
     Jews risked their lives to save his.
       Azriel Genachowski and my mother Adele are here today, with 
     the American delegation. They survived the Nazi onslaught of 
     Europe. They taught me what I have told you. They taught me 
     what Simon Weisenthal once said, ``Survival is a privilege 
     which entails obligations.''

[[Page 1022]]

       Out of the ashes of the Nazi terror come many obligations.
       As President Obama said last year upon visiting Buchenwald, 
     a death camp his great uncle helped liberate as an army 
     infantryman, ``It is up to us to bear witness; to ensure that 
     the world continues to note what happened here; to remember 
     all those who survived and all those who perished, and to 
     remember them not just as victims, but also as individuals 
     who hoped and loved and dreamed just like us.''
       We must remember them not only with our words and prayers, 
     but with our deeds--working to ensure that the sacred phrase 
     ``Never Again,'' never becomes mechanical language, never 
     drains of meaning.
       Elie Weisel teaches, ``If we forget, we are guilty, we are 
     accomplices.''
       We must remember the courageous prisoners, soldiers, 
     resistance fighters, and ordinary civilians--Soviets, Poles, 
     Germans, Danes, Americans, and so many others--who risked 
     their lives and sacrificed so much to save others, reminding 
     us of the boundless human capacity for good.
       Our burden is even greater as those who liberated the camps 
     are now in their eighties, and only a handful of 
     concentration camp survivors remain.
       As death is taking those whom genocide spared, we must 
     respond to what Czeslaw Milosz called ``the command to 
     participate actively in history.'' We must renew our 
     commitment to fight for freedom and against intolerance.
       Anti-semitism, hatred, and racism remain deep and troubling 
     facts of modern life, the world over. The memory of the 
     atrocities committed at Auschwitz and throughout Europe must 
     steel our resolve to fight every form of intolerance and 
     inhumanity.
       The Holocaust proves many sad truths. One is that modernity 
     is not an inoculation against genocide.
       The pillars of modernity--science and technology--are 
     powerful forces. Perverted for evil by the Nazis, but also 
     sources of unlimited hope, opportunity and transformative 
     change.
       My father, who eventually came to the United States to 
     study engineering, taught me about the power of technology to 
     transform lives for the better.
       Let us fight so that technology is deployed to spread 
     knowledge, to educate, to ensure that people in all corners 
     of the world know of death-camp victims, survivors, and 
     liberators.
       Let us fight so that technology is used to shine a light on 
     oppression and intolerance, to illuminate persecution and 
     dehumanization, to take oppression and mass murder out of the 
     shadows.
       We know that the Nazis sought to shut off from the rest of 
     the world the unspeakable killing that went on here. We know 
     that for the Nazis control of the flow of information was an 
     imperative, an SS boot on the free flow of news.
       Let us fight for freedom. For fundamental freedoms 
     disregarded too often and tragically in the 20th century, 
     fundamental freedoms that, as Secretary of State Hillary 
     Clinton has urged, we must enshrine as core principles in the 
     2lst century--freedom of expression, freedom of worship, 
     freedom from want, freedom from fear, and freedom to connect.
       The freedom of information is essential, while also no 
     substitute for the power of actual places to teach and 
     instruct. It is a moral imperative to preserve Auschwitz and 
     other physical sites of remembrance, because they shock us 
     into an understanding that ideas alone cannot.
       As the survivors continue to leave us, places like this 
     take on an even greater importance. Because places like 
     Auschwitz aren't really mute. In their unspeaking way, they 
     tell us of the unspeakable.
       The former prisoners who first proposed a memorial and 
     museum at Auschwitz-Birkenau knew this. This place, and 
     others like it, stands as a refutation of those who insist 
     the Holocaust never happened--a denial of the truth that is 
     baseless, ignorant, and driven by hatred.
       The great American writer Mark Twain said: ``A lie travels 
     halfway around the world before the truth puts its shoes 
     on.'' Today's haters are using old and new tools to foster 
     Holocaust denial and mass murder. Let us come together to 
     counter those efforts. Let us work together to make sure the 
     facts of the Holocaust and its lessons remain fresh for each 
     new generation.
       My daughter, Lilah, is five years old--the same age as my 
     father when he and his parents made their escape from Nazi-
     occupied Belgium.
       My son, Aaron, is three years old--the same age as his 
     mom's father in Nazi-occupied Holland when his parents handed 
     him over to be hidden by righteous non-Jewish heroes who 
     risked their lives to save people they didn't know.
       We preserve Auschwitz-Birkenau so that children all over 
     the world like Lilah, Aaron, and their older brother Jake can 
     visit and absorb the full dimensions of the unthinkable 
     tragedy that occurred here.
       Bella Rabinovitch is gone, but her spirit lives on in eight 
     grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, and 45 great-great-
     grandchildren, each a living legacy to the victory over Nazi 
     oppression. In Israel and throughout the world, Jews and 
     other groups singled out by the Nazis for extermination 
     survive and thrive.
       Bella's spirit also lives on in those who liberated 
     Auschwitz-Birkenau three years after her death; and in those 
     here participating 65 years later in this multi-national, 
     multi-generational recognition that the horrors she and so 
     many others witnessed and suffered must never be permitted to 
     recur.
       We are humbled by the survivors. We honor the liberators. 
     We mourn the victims.
       In their name, we say: Yitgadal Vyitkadash Shme Raba.
       In their name, we pledge to remember.
       In their name, we pledge: Never Again.

  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H. Res. 1044, 
a resolution commemorating the 65th anniversary of the liberation of 
Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration and extermination camp. Honoring the 
victims of the Holocaust, and expressing commitment to strengthen the 
fight against bigotry and intolerance are integral parts of this 
resolution. I would like to thank Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 
for introducing this piece of legislation.
  Before Allied forces arrived in Poland to liberate Auschwitz, on 
January 27, 1945, approximately 6 million Jews and other targeted 
groups were murdered by Nazi soldiers across Europe.
  Auschwitz was the largest concentration camp in Poland. Between 1940 
and 1945, 1.3 million Jews were deported by Nazi authorities to this 
extermination camp. Over 85 percent of the people sent there were 
tortured, starved and then systematically murdered in gas chambers.
  This camp symbolizes a place of terror, for Jews, prisoners of war, 
people who were caught hiding the Jews and even those who had different 
political views from the Nazi Regime during the Holocaust.
  America stands with the Jewish people, and has dedicated the 
Holocaust Memorial Museum, to recognize the people who lost their 
lives, as well as those who survived the Holocaust. Their strong 
resilience against the Nazi's inexorable plan of genocide and their 
dedication to their ideals in spite of great adversity was remarkable.
  The Department of State Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and 
Combat Anti-Semitism, along with several United States embassies and 
consulates has done an exceptional job at tracking anti-Semitism, 
bigotry, racism and intolerance. America and our partnering departments 
stand together with the Jewish people in solidarity to ensure the 
safety of all people and prevent our future from mirroring the 
atrocities of our past.
  I urge my colleagues to continue their strong support of H. Res. 
1044, commemorating the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the 
Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1044, 
Commemorating 65th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz.
  January 27, 2010 marked the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the 
Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where at least 1.1 million were 
murdered from 1940-1945. Last week, the United Nations, which is 
located in my district, commemorated the liberation with events 
designed to carry on the stories and lessons that Holocaust survivors 
have made their legacy.
  Here in Congress, the resolution we pass today honors the victims of 
Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. It also reaffirms 
Congress's commitment to enhance Holocaust education to ensure that 
what happened in Auschwitz is never allowed to happen again.
  To that end, I have introduced separate legislation, the Simon 
Wiesenthal Holocaust Education Assistance Act (H.R. 2089), which would 
provide federal grants to educational organizations to teach students 
about the Holocaust: The legislation is named after the renowned 
survivor of the Nazi death camps who dedicated his life to documenting 
the crimes of the Holocaust.
  Unfortunately, many students across the country have not learned 
about the Holocaust because their schools do not have the necessary 
funds or tools to teach them about this horrific event in humanity's 
history. It is imperative that students learn about the consequences of 
intolerance and hatred, so that we can truly say, ``Never again.''
  As the numbers of Holocaust survivors dwindle, we must make sure 
their stories live on forever and that those who would deny the 
Holocaust never have the ability to rewrite history.
  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Klein) that the House suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1044, as amended.

[[Page 1023]]

  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. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground 
that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum 
is not present.
  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.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________