[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 49 (Monday, December 13, 1999)]
[Page 2558]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the U.S. Holocaust Assets Commission Extension Act 
of 1999

December 9, 1999

    Today I am pleased to sign into law H.R. 2401, the ``U.S. Holocaust 
Assets Commission Extension Act of 1999.'' This legislation, which 
extends the mandate of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust 
Assets in the United States for 1 year, is a clear demonstration of 
America's determination to pursue justice for Holocaust victims and 
their families.
    The United States has led the renewed struggle for justice and 
compensation on behalf of the victims of the Holocaust. One year ago, 
delegations from 44 countries and 13 nongovernmental organizations met 
at the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets convened by the 
Department of State and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. During the 
Washington Conference, I announced the public and governmental members 
of the Presidential Advisory Commission, which was created to 
investigate and advise on the fate of Holocaust victims' assets that 
came into the possession or control of the United States Government.
    Since then, the Presidential Advisory Commission has been hard at 
work and estimates that it will have to examine more than 45 million 
pages of documents. To our Nation's credit, the amount of information to 
be reviewed increases every week as remaining Nazi-era documents are 
declassified. The U.S. Holocaust Assets Commission Extension Act of 1999 
provides the Presidential Advisory Commission with additional time and 
authorizes additional resources needed to complete the review of the 
historical record of American activity during one of the darkest periods 
of this century.
    The Commission's research demonstrates irrefutably that we in the 
United States are willing to hold ourselves to the same high standard of 
truth about Holocaust assets to which we have held other nations. The 
extension of the Presidential Advisory Commission sends a strong 
message, both at home and abroad, that we are committed to examining 
difficult aspects of our history and determining how to build a better 
world for our children in the next millennium.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
December 9, 1999.

Note: H.R. 2401, approved December 9, was assigned Public Law No. 106-
155.