Emancipation Hall Symbolizes Freedom

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. I rise as a proud American--I love my country--but I also rise as a proud, liberated Democrat.

I rise, Mr. Speaker, as a person who is proud of his heritage. I am the proud descendant, Mr. Speaker, of the enslaved people whose hands helped to construct the Capitol itself. I am proud of my history, and because I am proud of my history, I think that many people would agree that the topic I will embrace today is most appropriate.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be here today to speak on a resolution that passed this House today. I thank the leadership for allowing the resolution to come to the floor. I am especially proud of the fact that when the resolution came to the floor, all who voted, voted for the resolution. There were no nays, Mr. Speaker. One hundred percent of those voting, over 400--405 to be exact--voted for this resolution. I am proud to be one of the 405 who voted ``yes'' for this resolution.

I didn't have an opportunity to speak on the resolution when it was presented on the floor of the House. I was not available at the time here in Washington, D.C., and not aware of the exact time that it was going to be heard, but I knew that there would be another opportunity for me.

Today, I take advantage of the opportunity afforded me, grateful I am to those who have afforded me the opportunity to speak on H. Con. Res. 25, authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for a ceremony as part of the commemoration of the Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust.

I thank those who brought this resolution to the attention of the Congress: Representatives Kustoff, Schneider, Max Miller, and Landsman. I thank all of them for bringing this resolution to the attention of the Members so that we would have an opportunity to express our desire to see this resolution come to fruition; a resolution, Mr. Speaker, that would commemorate the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust.

Mr. Speaker, in all of history there is no event comparable to the Holocaust. It is one of the greatest crimes ever committed against humanity. This is not to say that there are not other crimes against humanity that were committed. This is to say that this one is unlike any other.

I am proud of the way our country has recognized the need for remembrance of the Holocaust. I am proud because I have friends that I have spoken to who are Jewish, and my friends have explained to me some of the things that you don't read in books about the atrocities associated with the Holocaust.

When I last spoke to my friend David Mintzberg about his father and mother, who were survivors of the Holocaust, he and I both had tears well in our eyes as he presented the story to me.

He explained to me, Mr. Speaker, how his mother, Edith, was on a train, how through some quirk of fate they stopped the train, and people were told to just run, run; and they ran for their lives. They ran for their lives. It was about 2 to 3 a.m. They ran and they ran and they ran.

They didn't just run that night. They didn't just run for the next week. They didn't just run for days. They didn't just run for months. They ran for years, surviving as best as they could. It hurts my heart to go through the recounting of what was said to me, but it is important for people to understand why remembrance is important.

His father, Joseph, at 16, 17 years of age, was on a train on its way to one of the death camps. When persons on the train were able to pry open bars so that he could slip through, he did.

He ran. He didn't run for days or weeks. He ran through the snow. He ran for years, approximately 5 years on the run, his life hanging in the balance.

The story, as told, calls me to understand more how precious the lives of people can be in times of peril when there is seemingly no way out.

Along life's way, for many of them, there were persons known as righteous gentiles. His father is said to have had an encounter with such a person.

These righteous gentiles, by the way, have been recognized for what they did to rescue persons during this time of great peril--righteous gentiles, righteous people who understood that lives were hanging in the balance.

I have been to Yad Vashem. It is my understanding that Yad Vashem has a special place for the recognition of righteous gentiles.

His father ran. His mother ran. They survived. The unfortunate thing is not all did, and many, many millions did not.

We want to remember those who did not. This is a time for remembrance. Remembrance is the honorable thing to do. It is the thing that we ought to do, as we are doing it on an annual basis, so that never again will we face the horrors of the Holocaust.

I am proud to say that if this resolution passes the Senate, then my hope and belief is that, in the visitor center, there will be the opportunity for us to have some of those survivors appear. Hopefully, if it is God's will, we may hear a story from someone who actually survived.

The history that we can record based upon those who are with us and who can share that history is fading. We need to do all that we can to capture as much of it as fast as we can.

So, I am proud. I plan to be in the visitor center. The visitor center is a place, a special place, where this kind of event should take place.

Events that commemorate the lives lost ought to take place in our visitor center. This belongs to the public.

Lives lost ought to be commemorated in such a facility because it is within a dome. There is space there, a huge space.

The dome is adjacent to it, not quite there but nearby. In that center is a replica of the statue that sits atop the dome of the Capitol. The statue is one that I have great reverence for, the Statue of Freedom. This Statue of Freedom was sculpted by Thomas Crawford, and it sits atop the Capitol dome 288 feet high, 96 feet in diameter.

The replica is there in the visitor center, a symbol of freedom, a symbol of freedom so that the world will know what we stand for in this country. We stand for freedom. We stand for liberty and justice for all.

Yes, I agree with those who would say that we still have much work to do. Yes, we do, and I plan to be a part of doing that work, but that doesn't mean that I am not going to recognize the work that has been done.

Many lives have been sacrificed so that we could be at this point in our history. I am proud of the work that has been done, but I am also proud to say that that work affords us the opportunity to be there with this replica of the Statue of Freedom, right there in the visitor center, for a day of remembrance.

I am going to invite friends, to the extent that we have space available for me to do so, to come and be a part of this.

This is a time that all Americans ought to come together. This is a time for us to acknowledge that the world has not always been kind to people; that those who are survivors ought to be respected; and that those who did not survive, their lives ought to be commemorated.

H. Con. Res. 25, I am proud to have voted for it, authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for a ceremony as part of the commemoration of the Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of this House, and I thank all the Members who cast their votes and those who made it possible for the votes to be cast. I pray that the God that I worship will stand with us and never allow such an atrocity to visit us again.

I also know that the hands of people created the Holocaust, and it will take the hands of people to prevent it from ever happening again.

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