Press Release

45 Members of Congress to Call on Secretary of State to Step-Up U.S. Participation in Holocaust Remembrance
As International Community Works to Preserve Auschwitz Concentration Camp, U.S. Has Fallen Behind on Commitment of Funds

September 16, 2009

Media Contact: Rebecca Dreilinger (202) 225-8203
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Washington D.C.) On Thursday, 45 members of Congress will call upon President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to join the international community in committing funds to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, which seeks to preserve the decaying Nazi death camp to ensure that the atrocities of the Holocaust never occur again. While commitments have been made by the Polish, German, British and French governments, as well as the European Union, the United States has so far committed to little more than a promise to "review" the Foundation's plans.

Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest Nazi concentration camp, the site of more than 1.1 million murders through systematic starvation, forced labor, individual execution and gas chambers. The Foundation is seeking to accumulate $160 million for the conservation of the grounds, buildings, and artifacts of the death camp. Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (IL-04), joined by House colleagues of many faiths and on both sides of the aisle, is calling upon the Obama Administration to at least match the highest contribution pledged to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, as soon as possible. 

 

 

Who:

 

 

 

 

Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL)
Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV)
Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY)
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
Guy Billauer, Associate Director National and Legislative Affairs, American Jewish Committee

 

What:

 

Press conference calling on U.S. to commit funds for preservation of Auschwitz concentration camp  

When:

 

Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009 12:30pm 

Where:

  

 

House Triangle (The East Front for the U.S. Capitol)
Rain Location: 2103 RHOB  

 "This month marks 70 years since the beginning of World War II, and while time is taking its toll on this rapidly deteriorating historic site, it has not diminished violent ideologies of anti-Semitism and racism that still run rampant today," said Rep. Gutierrez.  "The only way we can work toward the eradication of these painful and dangerous mentalities is to preserve, remember and teach others about the atrocities of the past. The United States must be a leader in the fight against hatred and bigotry by safeguarding an honest record of history, so that future generations may learn from it."  

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