III 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 129 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JUNE 8, 2016 
Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing support for the goal of ensuring that all Holo-
caust victims live with dignity, comfort, and security 
in their remaining years, and urging the Federal Repub-
lic of Germany to continue to reaffirm its commitment 
to this goal through a financial commitment to com-
prehensively address the unique health and welfare needs 
of vulnerable Holocaust victims, including home care and 
other medically prescribed needs. 
Whereas the annihilation of 6 million Jews during the Holo-
caust and the murder of millions of others by the Nazi 
German state constitutes one of the most tragic and hei-
nous crimes in human history; 
Whereas hundreds of thousands of Jews survived persecution 
by the Nazi regime despite being imprisoned, subjected to 
slave 
labor, 
moved 
into 
ghettos, 
forced 
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to live in hiding or under false identity, forced to live 
under curfew, or required to wear the ‘‘yellow star’’; 
Whereas in fear of the oncoming Nazi Einsatzgruppen (‘‘Nazi 
Killing Squads’’) and the likelihood of extermination, 
hundreds of thousands of Jewish Nazi victims fled for 
their lives; 
Whereas whatever type of persecution suffered by Jews dur-
ing the Holocaust, the common thread that binds these 
Holocaust victims is that they were targeted for extermi-
nation and that they lived with a constant fear for their 
lives and the lives of their loved ones; 
Whereas Holocaust victims immigrated to the United States 
from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and the 
former Soviet Union from 1933 to today; 
Whereas it is estimated that there are at least 100,000 Holo-
caust victims living in the United States and approxi-
mately 500,000 living around the world today, including 
child survivors; 
Whereas tens of thousands of Holocaust victims are in their 
80s or 90s or are more than 100 years in age, and the 
number of Holocaust victims is diminishing; 
Whereas at least 50 percent of Holocaust victims alive today 
will pass away within the next decade, and those alive are 
becoming frailer and have increasing health and welfare 
needs; 
Whereas Holocaust victims throughout the world continue to 
suffer from permanent physical and psychological injuries 
and disabilities and live with the emotional scars of this 
systematic genocide against the Jewish people; 
Whereas many of the emotional and psychological scars of 
Holocaust victims are exacerbated in their old age, the 
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past haunts and overwhelms many aspects of their lives 
when their health fails them; 
Whereas Holocaust victims suffer particular trauma when 
their emotional and physical circumstances force them to 
leave the security of their own home and enter institu-
tional or other group living residential facilities; 
Whereas tens of thousands of Holocaust victims live in pov-
erty, cannot afford and do not receive sufficient medical 
care, home care, mental health care, medicine, food, 
transportation, and other vital life-sustaining services 
that allow them to live their final years with comfort and 
dignity; 
Whereas Holocaust victims often lack family support net-
works and require social worker-supported case manage-
ment in order to manage their daily lives and access gov-
ernment funded services; 
Whereas in response to a letter sent by Members of Congress 
to Germany’s Minister of Finance in December 2015 re-
garding increased funding for Holocaust victims, German 
officials acknowledged that ‘‘recent experience has shown 
that the care financed by the German Government to 
date is insufficient’’ and that ‘‘it is imperative to expand 
these assistance measures quickly given the advanced age 
of many of the affected persons’’; 
Whereas German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer acknowledged 
in 1951 Germany’s responsibility to provide moral and fi-
nancial compensation to Holocaust victims worldwide; 
Whereas every successive German Chancellor has reaffirmed 
this position, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, who in 
2007 reaffirmed that ‘‘only by fully accepting its endur-
ing responsibility for this most appalling period and for 
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