The Holocaust Victims' Assets, Restitution Policy, and Remembrance Act

Mr. President, today I join my colleagues in support of the Holocaust Victims' Assets, Restitution Policy, and Remembrance Act.

We are motivated by a desire to achieve justice for Holocaust victims and their families, and we recognize that if such justice is to be attained, the United States must continue to lead the world by example.

The United States has provided leadership in this area ever since American troops liberated the death camps. Most recently, the United States has been the driving force behind international settlements with foreign governments, the Swiss banks, the European insurance companies, and German corporations that benefited from slave labor. This legislation recognizes that the struggle for justice requires continued American leadership and that the foundation is the appropriate mechanism for that leadership.

Justice is timeless, and it is time for us to take the necessary steps and help Holocaust survivors reunite with their assets and belongings. For many survivors and family members, a painting, a piece of furniture, or a family heirloom is the only remaining connection between them and their loved ones who died in the Holocaust. This legislation is long overdue. I hope that it reunites many victims and families with those items that have been missing for too many years, and a reunion like that would be a bittersweet kind of justice.

The purpose of this act is to create a public/private foundation to integrate research that has been conducted by 23 international commissions in the area of Holocaust-era assets, to complete the research agenda that arises from that synthesis, and stimulate the transition to a contemporary restitution policy.

The foundation will be the single most effective facilitator of the identification and return of Holocaust-era asserts to their rightful owners and heirs ever supported by the U.S. Government.

If the nations of the world are to be convinced of our lasting commitment to justice for Holocaust victims and if continued work on Holocaust assets issues is to be truly effective, the foundation must have the stamp of the
Federal Government. But the Federal Government cannot, and should not, perform these tasks by itself.
It will coordinate the efforts of the Federal Government, State governments, the private sector, and individuals here, and abroad, to help people locate and identify assets who would otherwise have no ability to do so. It will encourage policymakers to deal with contemporary restitution issues, including how best to treat unclaimed assets.

The foundation is authorized for 10 years, after which it will sunset and "spin off" its research results and materials to other appropriate public and private entities. It is able to accept private funds as well as public dollars.

The commission identified a number of policy initiatives that require U.S. leadership. These initiatives included, but are not limited to the need to: compile a report that integrates, synthesizes, and supplements the research on Holocaust-era assets that has been conducted around the world; review the degree to which other nations have implemented the principles adopted at various international conferences; work with organizations to provide for the coordinated and centralized dissemination of information about restitution programs; encourage the creation and expansion of mechanisms, including Alternative Dispute Resolution options, to assist claimants in obtaining the speedy resolution of their claims; and, support the establishment and maintenance of a computerized and searchable database of Holocaust victims' claims for the restitution of personal property.

The foundation will also encourage, and support, the efforts of State governments to facilitate the cross match of unclaimed property records with lists of Holocaust victims. It will work with the museum community to further stimulate provenance research into European paintings and Judaica. It will promote and monitor the implementation by major banking institutions of the agreement developed in conjunction with the New York Bankers Association. Finally, it will work with the private sector to develop and promote common standards and best practices for research on Holocaust-era assets.

The impetus for the foundation comes from the work of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States chaired by Edgar M. Bronfman, Sr. The commission report, "Plunder and Restitution: The U.S. and Holocaust Victims' Assets," was the most comprehensive examination ever conducted into how the Federal Government handled the assets of Holocaust victims that came into its possession or control.

The Congress has dealt with Holocaust issues on a nonpartisan basis, and I am confident it will consider this bill in the same spirit. I urge my colleagues to cosponsor it and look forward to its prompt adoption.