Commending Countries and Organizations for Marking 60th Anniversay of Liberation of Auschwitz

COMMENDING COUNTRIES AND ORGANIZATIONS FOR MARKING 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ -- (House of Representatives - January 25, 2005)

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 39) commending countries and organizations for marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and urging a strengthening of the fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, and anti-Semitism.

The Clerk read as follows:

H. Res. 39

Whereas on January 27, 1945, the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, including Birkenau and other related camps near the Polish city of Oswiecim, was liberated by elements of the Soviet Army under the command of Field Marshal Ivan Konev;

Whereas, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, at a minimum 1,300,000 people were deported to Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945, and of these, at least 1,100,000 were murdered at that camp;

Whereas an estimated 6,000,000 Jews, more than 60 percent of the pre-World War II Jewish population of Europe, were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators at Auschwitz and elsewhere in Europe;

Whereas in addition, hundreds of thousands of civilians of Polish, Roma, and other nationalities, including in particular handicapped and retarded individuals, homosexuals, political, intellectual, labor, and religious leaders, all of whom the Nazis considered ``undesirable'', as well as Soviet and other prisoners of war, perished at Auschwitz and elsewhere in Europe;

Whereas the complex of concentration and death camps at Auschwitz has come to symbolize the brutality and inhumanity of the Holocaust;

Whereas on January 24, 2005, the United Nations General Assembly, in response to a resolution proposed by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Russia, the United States, and the European Union, convened its first-ever special session marking the liberation of Auschwitz and other concentration camps on the 60th anniversary of that event;

Whereas on January 27, 2005, the Government of Poland will host a state ceremony at Auschwitz/Oswiecim, Poland, to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the camps in which the Presidents of Israel, Germany, Poland, and Russia, and the Vice President of the United States, and leaders of many other countries will participate;

Whereas January 27 of each year is the official Holocaust Memorial Day in many European countries, including Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, and has been designated by Israel as a National Day to Combat Anti-Semitism; and

Whereas the Department of State in the Report on Global Anti-Semitism transmitted to Congress in December 2004 noted that ``anti-Semitism in Europe increased significantly in recent years'', ``Holocaust denial and Holocaust minimization efforts'' have found increasingly overt acceptance in a number of Middle Eastern countries, and anti-Semitism has appeared ``in countries where historically or currently there are few or even no Jews'': Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives-

(1) recalls with gratitude the sacrifices made by Allied soldiers, as well as partisans and underground fighters, whose service and dedication resulted in the defeat of the Nazi regime and the liberation of Auschwitz and other concentration camps during World War II;
(2) expresses gratitude to those individuals and organizations that assisted and cared for the survivors of Nazi brutality and helped those survivors establish new lives;
(3) commends those countries that are marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, as well as the United Nations General Assembly and other international organizations, for honoring the victims of the Holocaust and using this tragic anniversary to increase awareness of the Holocaust;
(4) urges all countries and peoples to strengthen their efforts to fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, and anti-Semitism; and
(5) urges governments and educators throughout the world to teach the lessons of the Holocaust in order that future generations will understand that racial, ethnic, and religious intolerance and prejudice can lead to the genocide carried out in camps such as Auschwitz.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) each will control 20 minutes.

The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde).

GENERAL LEAVE

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 39, the resolution under consideration.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Illinois?

There was no objection.

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, it is, of course, difficult to describe the horrors of the death camp at Auschwitz, the 60th anniversary of whose liberation occurs this week. One wonders if it is even appropriate to try. A commemorative reading widely used in the Jewish community suggests refraining ``from dwelling on the deeds of evil ones lest we defame the image of God in which man was created.''

Rather, it is better when marking this anniversary to allow ourselves to be directed forward, to be more inspired by a recollection of the liberation of the camps and heroic deeds of combat and resistance that eventually defeated the Nazis than we are repulsed by the Nazis' deeds.

This pending resolution is drafted by my esteemed colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the ranking Democratic member of our committee, and it expresses sentiments that I trust are widely shared in the House:

That we recognize that we should fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination and anti-Semitism which, if unchecked, can lead to mass murder;

That we thank the liberators of the camps and those who cared for the survivors of the Nazi death machine;

And that we commend those states which now, at last, are willing to recognize an anniversary of the liberation of the camps in a body such as the United Nations General Assembly.

The administration and the governments of the allies in World War II and of the European Union deserve our thanks for their efforts to arrange for a session of the U.N. General Assembly to commemorate this anniversary, and I also thank the U.N. Secretary General for his important, personal support for the special session and for his remarks yesterday.

Yesterday's U.N. meeting did not take place on January 27, the precise anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, because many of the leaders participating at the U.N. are traveling to Auschwitz for a special commemoration at that site, where well over a million souls perished.

I commend the President for asking Vice President Cheney to lead the American delegation to that commemoration. The President demonstrated additional insight by naming Mrs. Lynne Cheney, as well as our friends, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) and his wife Annette Tillemann Lantos, both Holocaust survivors, among the other members of the delegation.

When the House passes this resolution, it will endow the delegation with a specific sense of the House for it to convey to the others participating in the commemoration at Auschwitz. I know that the entire delegation will represent the highest values of our Nation with great skill and sensitivity, and I wish them Godspeed on their mission.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. First of all, I want to congratulate him on the extraordinary work he has done in leading the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe on behalf of the Congress and on behalf of the American people known as the Helsinki Commission. The gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) has been a stalwart, steadfast, strong voice on behalf of making sure that we confront anti-Semitism; that we confront prejudice; that we confront hate; that we confront the adverse effects of all of those human emotions, and has been a strong voice within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe dealing with this issue of anti-Semitism.

In fact, the gentleman from New Jersey and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), and others, but primarily the gentleman from New Jersey and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), have been responsible for the seminars that have been held in Europe raising the consciousness of all Europeans, as we need to raise the consciousness of all Americans and all peoples of the world to be aware of the invidious, tragic, horrific consequences of prejudice and hate.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the gentleman from New Jersey on his extraordinary leadership. He has been a giant in this effort, and I thank him.

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I rise as well to say that no Member of this body has been any more personally affected, and certainly no Member of this body has more consistently raised the consciousness of the American people and, indeed, the international community on the importance of never forgetting.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde), who is committed to this issue and has been a leader and has traveled and headed the delegations of the Helsinki Commission to the Parliamentary Assembly and raised our voice in foreign lands.

I also thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the ranking member, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress. In particular, I want to say to the gentleman from California, his indefatigable commitment to human freedom and basic human dignity is a source of inspiration to all of us privileged to serve with the gentleman. It should be emulated by us all.

Madam Speaker, 60 years ago at 3 p.m. on January 27, 1945, Soviet Red Army soldiers entered Auschwitz concentration camp. Those of us who visited Auschwitz long after that date but who saw the horrible implements of death constructed there by the Nazi regime can only imagine, knowing the horror that we felt, the horror and revulsion that those Soviet soldiers, human beings, must have felt as they entered that camp in a village in southern Poland 30 miles west of Krakow. What they discovered there haunts us today and should haunt us every day.

A Russian Army officer described the reaction to the sight of the camp's remaining 7,000 prisoners, who had been too ill or weak to move and were left to die in the cold by the fleeing Germans. He said, ``The soldiers from my battalion asked me, `Let us go. We cannot stay. This is unbelievable.' It was so terrible, it was hard for the mind to absorb it.''

But the mind, Madam Speaker, must never forget it. The Nazis had spent weeks moving the most able-bodied prisoners, destroying documents and bulldozing buildings. But the liberation of the largest Nazi concentration camp, where 1.5 million innocent souls were murdered, women and children, young and old, opened the world's eyes to the unspeakable evil of the Holocaust.

While it is appropriate that this somber day be marked in ceremonies all around the globe, it will be a further tragedy if on this occasion we only look back without also looking ahead. The gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) did that.

We cannot remember the liberation of the concentration camps and the defeat of the Nazis in World War II and at the same time cast a blind eye toward the growing problem of anti-Semitism that still infects the world today, and tragically grows today. Nor can we ignore the hatred and prejudice that fuels the genocide in Sudan today. The gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) mentioned Darfur.

Hatred knows no gender, no race, no ethnicity. It lurks in man's heart today as surely as it did during the Holocaust. Even today in this country we talk about some people in our country in a way that demeans them and dehumanizes them and gives to others the misapprehension that they can act against those people, whoever they might be. We see tragic instances of that. And that reality, as painful as it is to accept, compels us to use this solemn occasion to restate our commitment to freedom and basic human rights. And it compels us to fight hatred and prejudice wherever it rears its head.

Our President spoke just a few days ago in his Inaugural Address about the commitment of this country to freedom, to liberty and, yes, to human rights. He was right to do so. We owe those souls who perished at the hands of Nazis at Auschwitz, who perished at the hands of Milosevic, who died at the hands of those in Sudan and in every other place where hate and prejudice was the motivation for murder. We owe those souls our unremitting pledge to never, never, never permit these horrific periods in human history to be repeated. I was one of those who felt that we waited too long as we saw the genocide in Serbia and in Kosovo and in Bosnia. We must not delay our response. If we do so, we remember Auschwitz, but we remember it without learning its lesson.

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