[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5272-5273]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SUPPORTING HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I recently introduced House Concurrent 
Resolution 129 along with my south Florida colleague and friend, 
Congressman Ted Deutch, urging Germany to honor its commitments and 
moral obligations to Holocaust survivors by providing for their unmet 
needs.
  There are an estimated half-million survivors worldwide, about a 
quarter of whom live here in the United States. Nearly 15,000 survivors 
call the great State of Florida home, and I am proud to represent so 
many of them in my south Florida district.
  But the sad reality and, really, humanity's great shame is that about 
half of all Holocaust survivors live at or below the poverty line. Tens 
of thousands of survivors, if not more, are suffering without basic, 
life-sustaining services and care that they need in their advanced 
years.
  Many live alone or without family support and lack the funds for home 
care, from medicine to hearing aids, to food, to utilities, to rent.
  What a tragedy, Mr. Speaker, that so many Holocaust survivors are 
unable to maintain even a modest and dignified standard of living.
  These individuals have suffered for nearly three-quarters of a 
century from the physical and emotional scars that they have endured 
and carry with them to this very day. They have lived through the 
torture, the experiments, the labor camps, the loss of loved ones, and 
even the murder of their entire families.
  Because of all of this, Holocaust survivors' needs are unique. They 
are more extensive and more complex than the needs of other elderly 
individuals.
  The time for justice, Mr. Speaker, is now. The time for action is now 
because there may not be a next year or even a next month for many of 
these Holocaust survivors.
  That is why the German Government must honor Chancellor Adenauer's 
pledge from 1951, that Germany would take care of all of the needs of 
every survivor. That is why this resolution is so important, because 
time is of the essence.
  But it is not as though our friends in Germany have done nothing to 
fulfill this pledge. The German Government has over the years provided 
some support through income assistance programs and has sought ways to 
improve and address the needs of the survivors.
  Germany has even doubled its funding for home care services in the 
past 5 years, but that, unfortunately, does not match the reality of 
what is required.
  The German Ministry of Finance itself has admitted that the level of 
care financed by its government has been vastly insufficient to date, 
especially for those who are in dire need of intensive, long-term care.
  The real issue of concern, one that is exacerbating the severe lack 
of funding and one where I think we can press the German Government and 
work with it to find a fair solution, is the inconsistent manner in 
which existing funding and care is being disbursed.
  The current system places an undue burden on the Holocaust survivors 
and their families, forcing them to jump through bureaucratic red tape, 
causing harmful delays and waste.
  This resolution is a simple one. It is straightforward. It is 
noncontroversial. I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Congress is in a unique position to work for and fight on behalf of 
Holocaust survivors, many of whom are our constituents. We have a long 
history of working on behalf of Holocaust survivors and seeking out 
their long-overdue justice.
  Next Wednesday, May 4, is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. As 
we remember and honor the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, we 
are all compelled to do everything in our power to help those who have 
lived through those unconscionable atrocities.
  These survivors, Mr. Speaker, have seen the worst that humanity has 
to

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offer. Let us show them now the best of humanity by ensuring that they 
can, indeed, live out their days in dignity.

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