Holocaust Remembrance Day
Floor Speech
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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, and still I rise, a proud, liberated Democrat.
I rise today on this occasion of remembrance, remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust. I rise to associate myself with comments that have been made by others.
I would first note for the Record that there was a joint resolution approved on September 18, 1978, a joint resolution designating April 28 and 29 of 1979 as Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust.
President Carter, who signed H.J. Res. 1014, Public Law 95-371, approved on September 18, 1978, indicated in a public statement, ``The resolution was passed unanimously by both Houses of Congress. This reflects our Nation's wholehearted conviction that the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.''
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge and associate myself with a statement from President Joe Biden, dated April 22, 2022. It is styled, ``A Proclamation on Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust, 2022.''
In this statement, he indicates, among many other things that I associate myself with, ``The world must never forget the truth of what happened across Europe during the Holocaust or forget the horrific crimes and suffering the Nazi regime inflicted on millions''--I underscore it by saying it twice--``millions of innocent people.'' A Proclamation on Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust, 2022
On Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and throughout this week of remembrance, we reflect on the horrors of the Holocaust when the Nazi regime systematically murdered 6 million Jews and millions of other innocents, including Roma, Sinti, Slavs, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ individuals, political dissidents, and many others. We stand with Jewish people in the United States, Israel, and around the world in grieving one of the darkest chapters in history. We honor the memories of the victims. We embrace the survivors. We commit to keeping alive the promise of ``never again.''
The world must never forget the truth of what happened across Europe during the Holocaust or forget the horrific crimes and suffering the Nazi regime inflicted on millions of innocent people. Entire families were wiped out. Communities were shattered. Survivors were left with agonizing memories and fading tattoos etched into their skin by the Nazis, reducing them to numbers. It is forever recorded into the history of mankind, and it is the shared responsibility of us all to ensure that the Shoah is never erased from our collective memory--especially as fewer and fewer survivors remain. The truth must always be known and shared with future generations in perpetuity.
I have taught my own children and grandchildren about the horrors of the Holocaust, just as my father taught me. I have taken my family to bear witness to the darkness at the Dachau concentration camp so that they could understand why we must always speak out against antisemitism and hatred in all of its pernicious forms. The legacy of the Holocaust must always remind us that silence in the face of such bigotry is complicity.
Remembrance is our eternal duty, but remembrance without action risks becoming an empty ritual. As individuals, we must never be indifferent to human cruelty and human suffering. As nations, we must stand together across the international community against antisemitism, which is once again rearing its ugly head around the world. We must combat other forms of hatred and educate new generations about the Holocaust. We must reject those who try to deny the Holocaust or to distort its history for their own ends. We recognize that, just as the Holocaust was an act of pure antisemitism, so too Holocaust denial is a form of antisemitism. We watch with dismay as the term ``Nazi'' is deployed to make flawed historical parallels. Efforts to minimize, distort, or blur who the Nazis were and the genocide they perpetrated are a form of Holocaust denial and, in addition to insulting both the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, spread antisemitism.
My Administration has stepped up our efforts to counter all the ugly forms antisemitism can take, including Holocaust denial and distortion. We co-sponsored a United Nations resolution that charged the international community with combating Holocaust denial through education. We are partnering with the German government to improve Holocaust education and counter Holocaust denial and distortion. A renowned scholar of the Holocaust and antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt, was recently confirmed as Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.
In addition to speaking out against the evils of antisemitism, I signed--and my Administration continues to implement--legislation that gives us more tools to combat crimes that are based on a victim's actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability. We issued the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism. My Administration has implemented increased funding for a program that helps threatened nonprofits--including houses of worship and other religious affiliated entities--to improve their safety and security. On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I met with Bronia Brandman and the Vice President met with Ruth Cohen--both Auschwitz survivors--at the White House so we could bear witness to their stories, combat Holocaust denial and distortion, and give life to the lessons of that most terrible period in human history.
Those like Bronia and Ruth who survived the Holocaust and went on to build new lives inspire our Nation and the world, and they are living testaments to the enduring resilience of the human spirit. It is the responsibility of all of us to recognize the pain that they carry and to support them by ensuring that the cruelty of the Holocaust is never forgotten. Today and every day, we stand against antisemitism and all other forms of hate and continue our work to ensure that everyone can live in a world that safeguards the fundamental human dignity of all people.
Now, Therefore, I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 24 through May 1, 2022, as a week of observance of the Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust, and call upon the people of the United States to observe this week and pause to remember victims and survivors of the Holocaust.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-sixth. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise to place in the Record a statement from Speaker Pelosi styled, ``Pelosi Statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day.'' Among the many things said that I agree with is this statement: ``This occasion serves as a reminder of the profound danger posed by hateful violence when met with indifference.'' Hateful violence when met with indifference. Pelosi Statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day
``On Holocaust Remembrance Day, we pause to reflect on the unfathomable evils of the Shoah. As we mourn the six million Jews and countless others murdered across Europe, we also honor the survivors who have bravely shared their stories so that such atrocities may never be repeated. More than seven decades later, we remain outraged by the Nazis' barbaric crimes and unwavering in our commitment to fulfilling humanity's sacred promise: Never Again.
``This occasion serves as a reminder of the profound danger posed by hateful violence when met with indifference. In 2020, I had the solemn privilege of leading a Congressional delegation to Poland and Israel to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, bearing witness to hate's destructive consequences. The epidemic of antisemitism still remains today, threatening Jewish communities both at home and around the world. Shadows of these same dark forces have reached into more communities, from the surge of bigoted violence across the country to crimes against humanity being perpetrated abroad, including against Ukraine.
``Our nation must never fail to call out and defeat these perilous threats wherever and whenever they arise. In 1943, my father Thomas D'Alesandro appealed to `the American sense of justice and decency' as he implored the Roosevelt Administration to take action against the horrors of the Holocaust. Today, driven by those fundamental American values, the Congress is working to preserve our collective memories of the past, educate the next generation and speak out against all of hate's vile manifestations. Congressional action has helped forge a safer, more just society: from combating antisemitism by strengthening Holocaust education resources and establishing Congressionally mandated Days of Remembrance to fighting hate-fueled violence by enacting the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and the Emmett Till Antilynching Act.
Today, joining with House colleagues to honor those murdered in the Shoah, I recalled the moving words inscribed on San Francisco's Holocaust Memorial: `In remembrance is the secret of redemption.' Let us reflect on that truth as we seek to find redemption in a future of dignity and justice for all. May we never forget the horrors inflicted on so many innocent souls, and may we never relent in our righteous fight to put an end to the scourge of hate.''
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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise and desire that the statement from Majority Leader Hoyer be acknowledged. His statement is styled, ``Hoyer Statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day.'' And I associate myself with many of the things in this statement, but the thing that I want to associate myself with the most are the final words in his statement: ``Never Forget. Never Again.'' I associate myself with his statement. Hoyer Statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day
``On Yom HaShoah, we remember the six million Jews and millions of others murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. The genocide perpetrated by Adolf Hitler and his fascist collaborators--and enabled by the indifference of millions of people in Germany and across Europe--continues to bear scars to this day, with the families of victims and survivors still living with immense trauma and grief. The Holocaust was not only an immeasurable tragedy for the Jewish people; it was also a low point for humanity, when the worst evils of human hatred were unleashed in a way that was methodical and on an industrial scale in an effort to dehumanize and destroy an entire ethnic group. First by enacting degrading racial laws and forcing Jewish people to live in squalid ghettos and wear identifying marks for the purposes of ostracism and discrimination, and later through a systematic program of either deportation to labor and death camps or the massacre of entire communities by mobile killing squads, the Nazis taught the world a lesson on what happens when antisemitism and other forms of racism and bigotry are allowed to fester unchecked and are taken to their extreme. Every human being who inhabits our planet has a responsibility to learn the lessons of the Holocaust because it is a warning to all of humanity. `Never Again!' must be a promise kept by all. ``Terrifyingly, however, we are now seeing in our day a dangerous rise in violent antisemitism here at home and around the world. Extremists of all kinds have revived Nazi tropes, and too many make light of Adolf Hitler and the reality of his crimes against humanity. There ought to be no celebration or even condoning of him or those who helped him perpetrate the Holocaust. At the same time, some have chosen to invoke the Holocaust flippantly when engaging in debates about policy, which is not only deeply inappropriate but also insulting to its victims, its survivors, and their families. In much the same vein, the misuse of the Holocaust and Nazism by Vladimir Putin in an attempt to justify his unjustifiable and criminal invasion of Ukraine--as well as the disgusting misuse of the Holocaust to criticize the Jewish State of Israel, a democracy based in human rights and the rule of law--is a cynical and disturbing effort to twist history upside down. Together, all who support truth and cherish human rights and human dignity must oppose such statements and efforts.
``The Nazis tried to destroy the Jewish people, but their resilience, defiance, and heroism--and the sacrifices of so many brave American servicemembers who were liberators and rescuers--overcame Hitler's evil plans. Today, the success and vibrancy of the State of Israel and the flourishing of Jewish communities in America and around the world is a living testament to Nazism's defeat and to the triumph of justice. I'm proud to be the Majority Leader in a House that affirms, again and again, that antisemitism has no place in our country or in our politics--and to continue serving as a leader in the broad, bipartisan coalition in Congress ensuring that our ally Israel remains safe and strong and that America and Israel can be successful together in rooting out hatred, injustice, and antisemitism on Earth. ``Never Forget. Never Again.''
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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I have Jewish friends, as I believe most people do, and I have spoken to them about the horrors of the Holocaust. I have been to Israel, and I have been to Yad Vashem. I assure you, a visit to Yad Vashem can become a seminal moment in your life because of what it shows with clarity about the horrors of the Holocaust.
I am so proud that our leadership has gone on record in remembrance, and I am proud that this Congress passed a resolution signed by President Carter initially for days of remembrance.
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