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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 854 Introduced in House (IH)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 854

 Expressing gratitude to all of the member states of the International 
Commission of the International Tracing Service (ITS) on ratifying the 
May 2006 Agreement to amend the 1955 Bonn Accords granting open access 
 to vast Holocaust and other World War II related archives located in 
                         Bad Arolsen, Germany.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 10, 2007

Mr. Hastings of Florida (for himself, Mr. Wexler, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, and 
Mr. Kirk) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Expressing gratitude to all of the member states of the International 
Commission of the International Tracing Service (ITS) on ratifying the 
May 2006 Agreement to amend the 1955 Bonn Accords granting open access 
 to vast Holocaust and other World War II related archives located in 
                         Bad Arolsen, Germany.

Whereas for the past 62 years, until their ultimate release on November 28, 
        2007, the International Tracing Service (``ITS'') archives located in 
        Bad Arolsen, Germany remained the largest closed Holocaust-era archives 
        in the world;
Whereas while Holocaust survivors and their descendants have had limited access 
        to individual records at Bad Arolsen, reports suggest that they faced 
        long delays, incomplete information, and even unresponsiveness;
Whereas until the archives' recent release, the materials remained inaccessible 
        to researchers and research institutions;
Whereas the 1955 Bonn Accords established an International Commission of 11 
        member countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, 
        Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, the United 
        States) responsible for overseeing the administration of the ITS 
        Holocaust archives which contain 17.5 million individual names and 50 
        million documents;
Whereas the new International Committee of the Red Cross (``ICRC'') and the 
        Director of the ITS, who is an ICRC employee, oversee the daily 
        operations of the ITS and report to the Commission at its annual 
        meetings;
Whereas the new International Committee of the Red Cross leadership at the ITS 
        should be commended for their commitment to providing expedited and 
        comprehensive responses to Holocaust survivor requests for information, 
        and for their efforts to complete the digitization of all archives as 
        soon as possible;
Whereas since the inception of the ITS, the German government has financed its 
        operations;
Whereas beginning in the late 1990s, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum 
        (``Holocaust Museum''), Holocaust survivor organizations, and others 
        began exerting pressure on International Commission members to allow 
        unfettered access to the ITS archives;
Whereas following years of delay, in May 2006 in Luxemburg, the International 
        Commission of the ITS agreed upon amendments to the Bonn Accords which 
        would grant researchers access to the archives, would allow each 
        Commission member country to receive a digitized copy of the archives 
        and make the copy available to researchers under their own country's 
        respective archival and privacy laws and practices;
Whereas the first 3 Commission member States to ratify the amendments to the 
        Bonn Accords were the United States, Israel, and Poland, all 3 home to 
        hundreds of thousands of survivors of Nazi brutality;
Whereas the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has worked to ensure the 
        timely release of the Bad Arolsen archives to survivors, researchers, 
        and the public;
Whereas the United States Department of State engaged in diplomatic efforts with 
        other Commission member nations to provide open access to the archives;
Whereas the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed H. Res. 
        240 on April 25, 2007 and the United States Senate passed S. Res. 141 on 
        May 1, 2007, urging all member countries of the International Commission 
        of the International Tracing Service (``ITS'') who have yet to ratify 
        the May 2006 Amendments to the 1955 Bonn Accords Treaty, to expedite the 
        ratification process to allow for open access to the Holocaust archives 
        located at Bad Arolsen, Germany;
Whereas on May 15, 2007, the International Commission voted in favor of a United 
        States proposal to allow a transfer of a digital copy of archived 
        materials to any of the 11 member States that have adopted the May 2006 
        amendments to the Bonn Accords; thereafter, transfer of materials to 
        both the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem, the 
        Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Israel was 
        initiated;
Whereas while it is not possible to provide meaningful compensation to Holocaust 
        survivors for the pain, suffering and loss of life they have 
        experienced, it is a moral and justifiable imperative for Holocaust 
        survivors and their families to be offered expedited open access to 
        these archives;
Whereas with respect to the release of the materials, time is of the essence in 
        order for Holocaust researchers to access the archives while Holocaust 
        survivor eyewitnesses to the horrific atrocities of Nazi Germany are 
        still alive;
Whereas opening the historic record is a vital contribution to the world's 
        collective memory and understanding of the Holocaust and to ensure that 
        unchecked anti-Semitism and complete disrespect for the value of human 
        life, including the crimes committed against non-Jewish victims which 
        made such horrors possible, is never again permitted to take hold;
Whereas despite overwhelming international recognition of the unconscionable 
        horrors of the Holocaust and its devastating impact on World Jewry, 
        there has been a sharp increase in global anti-Semitism and Holocaust 
        denial in recent years; and
Whereas it is critical that the international community continue to heed the 
        lessons of the Holocaust, one of the darkest periods in the history of 
        humankind, and take immediate and decisive measures to combat the 
        scourge of anti-Semitism;
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commends in the strongest terms all States that worked 
        to expeditiously ratify the amendments to the Bonn Accords to 
        allow for open access to the Holocaust Archives located in Bad 
        Arolsen, Germany;
            (2) congratulates the dedication, commitment, and 
        collaborative efforts of the United States Holocaust Memorial 
        Museum, the Department of State, and the International 
        Committee of the Red Cross to open the archives;
            (3) encourages the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 
        and the International Committee of the Red Cross to act with 
        all possible urgency to create appropriate conditions to ensure 
        survivors, their families, and researchers have direct access 
        to the archives, and are offered effective assistance in 
        navigating and interpreting these archives;
            (4) remembers and pays tribute to the murder of 6,000,000 
        innocent Jews and more than 5,000,000 other innocent victims 
        during the Holocaust committed by Nazi perpetrators and their 
        collaborators; and
            (5) must remain vigilant in combating global anti-Semitism, 
        intolerance, and bigotry.
                                 <all>
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