A concurrent resolution recognizing that November 2, 2003, shall be dedicated to "A Tribute to Survivors" at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Mr. President, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of one of this country's greatest museums and educational institutions, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I have been privileged to serve on the Council of this great institution since its founding, and I have had no greater honor in the years I have served in Washington.

The Museum opened in April of 1993. Speaking in this chamber at that time, I said that the reason we needed to support this institution was simple: ``To remember, and by remembering, to strengthen America's moral compass.''

The Museum has served as an institution of remembrance and study since then, and its contribution has been immense. Over 19 million visitors have gone through its doors in the past decade, making this museum one of the most popular in Washington, and in the United States. Of these 19 million, nearly six million of those visitors were children, who have seen and been moved by the exhibit ``Daniel's Story,'' which renders the story of the Holocaust from the perspective of a child.

Over two million international visitors have come to the Museum in the past 10 years. This includes seventy-three heads of state have been included among those foreign visitors. I am heartened to imagine how they have returned to their many nations with the striking impression of how profoundly this country considers the most cataclysmic human event of the 20th century, the Holocaust, and how we demonstrate this by supporting this institution in the heart of Washington, D.C.

Not only have nearly 20 million people come to the Museum, but the Museum, through its many traveling exhibits, has brought the story of the Holocaust to many cities around this country. In 2002, the Museum brought another exhibit, ``The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936'' to my home State of Utah, to show during our historic Winter Olympics. Over 20,000 Utahns and foreign visitors attended that exhibit, which demonstrated the historic arc from an era of national fascism and barbaric racism to the present day vision of tolerance and good will that my state showed the world in the winter of 2002.

The Museum also serves as a educational center for Holocaust scholarship. The Museum's Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies supports scholarship and publications at the Museum as well as in conjunction with universities throughout this country. In the short period of its existence, the Museum has already greatly advanced Holocaust studies and I say with confidence that future scholars of this seminal event of the 20th century will all be influenced by the work of this great Museum.

As I've mentioned already, this is not the first time I have taken to the floor to laud the work of this great institution. In November of 1995, concerned about a rise in episodes, both here and abroad, of Holocaust deniers perpetuating their grotesque perversions of history, I introduced S. Res. 193, a resolution denouncing Holocaust denial. Recognizing the scholarship already being promoted by the Museum, the resolution ``commended the vital, ongoing work of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which memorializes the victims of the Holocaust and teaches all who are willing to learn profoundly compelling and universally resonant moral lessons.''

I introduced that resolution on November 9, 1995, which was the 57th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, the notorious 1938 pogrom of Jewish persecution by the Nazi regime, preparing the dark descent to the Holocaust that was to follow. In my statement, I said: ``Fifty-seven years after Kristallnacht, we are fortunate to still have survivors of the Holocaust among us. I worry about the memory of the Holocaust when the survivors will no longer be here. With each passing year, we have fewer survivors among us.''

The stewards and scholars of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum embody the recognition that the mission of the Museum is to preserve the memory of the victims. And for this reason, the Museum is marking its 10th anniversary in the only way it could: By hosting a historic ``Tribute to Survivors,'' which will occur at the end of this week, on November 1st and 2nd. It is fitting and proper that this would be the way to mark this anniversary. To date, 6,500 Holocaust survivors and their families are scheduled to attend, making this perhaps the last reunion of this kind. I urge all of my colleagues to review the schedule of events and, if at all possible, to go to the Museum to pay tribute to the survivors and this great institution.

To commemorate this event, and to honor the Museum on its 10th anniversary, I wish to submit this resolution

honoring the victims of the Holocaust and recognizing the vital work of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

I am most grateful for the co-sponsorship of Senators Voinovich, Reid, Coleman, Collins and Smith.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 76) recognizing that November 2, 2003, shall be dedicated as ``A Tribute To Survivors'' at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

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 S. Con. Res. 76.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, Senate Concurrent Resolution 76, introduced by Senator Hatch of Utah, dedicates November 2, 2003, as ``A Tribute to Survivors'' at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum located here in our Nation's capital.

The gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon) has authored the House companion bill and should be equally commended for his tireless work on behalf of his constituents.

Chartered by a unanimous Act of Congress in 1980, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's primary mission is to advance and disseminate knowledge about this unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the events of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy.

This living memorial speaks not only to the victims' deaths, but of their lives. It holds the power to transform the living by transmitting the legacy of the Holocaust.

On the occasion of its 10th anniversary, the museum on November 1 and 2 of 2003, held a Tribute to Holocaust survivors, a special celebration at the museum for survivors, their families, and other members of the eyewitness generation, including liberators and rescuers. This unique event brought together over 7,000 people, reuniting over 2,000 survivors. Museum Director Sara Bloomfield characterized the tribute as critical, with so many of the Holocaust survivors now in the later years of their lives.

More importantly though, dedicating November 2, 2003, as ``A Tribute to Survivors'' at the museum affords all of us the opportunity to answer to their silent question: Indeed, we have not forgotten you.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 76 is supported by the majority and minority of the committee. I urge adoption of the bill.

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

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the sponsor of the House legislation is home with a family member who is ill and unable to make his presentation. I ask for support of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to participate in the following votes. If I had been present, I would have voted as follows:

September 30, 2004: Rollcall vote 485, on H. Con. Res. 501, honoring the life and work of Duke Ellington, recognizing the 30th anniversary of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and supporting the annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, I would have voted yes.

October 4, 2004: Rollcall vote 487, on S. Con. Res. 76, recognizing that November 2, 2003, shall be dedicated to ``A Tribute to Survivors'' at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, I would have voted yes. Rollcall vote 488, on S. 1814, to transfer federal lands between the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, I would have voted yes. Rollcall vote 489, on H. Res. 567, congratulating the American Dental Association for sponsoring the second annual ``Give Kids a Smile'' program which emphasizes the need to improve access to dental care for children, and thanking dentists for volunteering their time to help provide needed dental care, I would have voted yes.

October 5, 2004: Rollcall vote 490, on H. Res. 814, ordering the Previous Question, I would have voted yes. Rollcall vote 491, on H. Res. 814, adoption of the rule, I would have voted yes.

Mr. Speaker, I was absent from votes in the House late in the afternoon on Thursday, September 30th, due to an unavoidable commitment, and, for the first two votes on Monday, October 4th, due to mechanical problems on the plane from Newark International Airport. Had I been present, I would have voted the following way:

On rollcall Vote No. 484, H.J. Res. 106, an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage, ``no'';

On rollcall Vote No. 485, H. Con. Res. 501, honoring the life and work of Duke Ellington, ``aye''

On rollcall Vote No. 486, H. Res. 792, honoring the United Negro College Fund on the occasion of the Funds 60th anniversary, ``aye'';

On rollcall Vote No. 487, S. Con. Res. 76, recognizing that November 2, 2003, shall be dedicated to ``A Tribute to Survivors'' at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, ``aye''; and

On rollcall Vote No. 488, S. 1814, the Mingo Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center legislation, ``aye''.

Mr. Speaker, I was absent from votes in the House late in the afternoon on Thursday, September 30, due to an unavoidable commitment, and for the first two votes on Monday, October 4, due to mechanical problems on the plane from Newark International Airport. Had I been present, I would have voted the following way: On rollcall vote 484, H.J. Res. 106, an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage, ``no''; on rollcall vote 485, H. Con. Res. 501, honoring the life and work of Duke Ellington, ``aye''; on rollcall vote 486, H. Res. 792, honoring the United Negro College Fund on the occasion of the Fund's 60th anniversary, ``aye''; on rollcall vote 487, S. Con. Res. 76, recognizing that November 2, 2004, shall be dedicated to ``A Tribute to Survivors'' at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, ``aye''; and on rollcall vote 488, S. 1814, the Mingo Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center legislation, ``aye.''