Benjamin Berell Ferencz Congressional Gold Medal Act

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6015, the Benjamin Berell Ferencz Congressional Gold Medal Act. I thank Congresswoman Frankel and the numerous original cosponsors for their work on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, Ben Ferencz was the last surviving prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials. A few minutes ago, we were reflecting on how few Army Rangers we have left from World War II. Truly, the Greatest Generation is passing before us.

Ben Ferencz is one of the few people remaining on Earth who had a front row seat to witness the horrors brought about by Nazi Germany before and during the war. As we witness the horrors now being carried out in Ukraine, it has never been more important for the world to hear his story.

Ben Ferencz's family fled to New York City to escape Romania's persecution of the Hungarian Jews. As a young man, Ferencz studied at the City College of New York and attended Harvard Law on a scholarship. After graduating from Harvard in 1943, Ferencz joined the U.S. Army. Like so many Americans, this was a decision that put him face to face with the potential of death and face to face with the worst case of persecution and genocide in history, the Holocaust.

After 2 years at Camp Davis in Holly Ridge, North Carolina, Ferencz was transferred to the headquarters of General Patton's Third Army. There he was assigned to a team tasked with setting up a war crimes branch, collecting the evidence of the horrors that had been carried out at the recently liberated concentration camps. One of those liberators in April 1945 was my father-in-law, Captain William A. McKenzie, a brand-new graduate of Texas A&M University, an Army engineer with Patton's Third Army. One spring day in April 1945, their convoy rolled up to the gates of Buchenwald concentration camp.

There, he bore witness to the Nazi terror, a terror that started with an

ideology of hate and superiority based on race and creed.

Bill McKenzie was just a good kid from Texas, put in an incredible position, and that was being one of the first U.S. Army officers to see smoke still coming out of the chimneys, bodies stacked up, and survivors.

In 1994, at the 50th anniversary of freedom in Europe and Paris, Bill McKenzie, that skinny captain from Texas A&M, got to meet a survivor from Buchenwald, Jacques Graubart, who was from Brussels, who had been imprisoned in Buchenwald and survived, and 50 years later, they met face to face in Paris, France.

Mr. McKenzie swaggered up to this man and said, Well, what unit were you in in World War II? And Mr. Gruber said, I wasn't in a unit. I was in the Buchenwald concentration camp.

And Mr. McKenzie was so caught with emotion, so embarrassed for his question, that he said, I never expected to meet a survivor. And Jacques looked at Bill McKenzie and said, I never expected to meet someone who saved us to say thank you.

So today, we are back on this floor to thank the work of Ben Ferencz and so many Americans and other Allies who worked against the ideology of the Nazis, such an affront to American values. And Ben Ferencz was there to put those puzzle pieces together that those American Army officers found at Buchenwald.

Ben Ferencz would travel to that concentration camp. He would collect the evidence of the horrors. He would honor us with the work in that war crimes branch. And Sergeant Ferencz was honorably discharged in 1945 and recruited to work on those trials for many, many years. For three years he led the researchers investigating those records, and we know it was no easy task.

As the lead prosecutor for the Einsatzgruppen case, Ben Ferencz successfully convicted 22 men for taking part in a mobile death squad, which was responsible for nearly a third of Jewish civilian deaths. His work at the Nuremburg trials established an incredible mandate for international criminal responsibility for the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

And Ben Ferencz' work, his sacrifice, echoes true for all of us as we see what Assad has done in Syria, and we see what Putin is doing in Ukraine. Ferencz' career spanned several decades and included fighting for proper compensation for the victims and the survivors of the Holocaust and working to establish an International Criminal Court.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to come together in support of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, let me thank Ms. Frankel for her leadership, Congresswoman Manning for her testimony there, and we all, on both sides of the aisle, stand in recognition of Ben Ferencz' pioneering efforts of his and his colleagues in the Nuremberg trials for laying out the protection of evidence, the careful documentation of it, preserving a way to convict the perpetrators of the Holocaust.

Those lessons and Ben Ferencz' legacy live on today, as just a few months ago we received one of our first convictions in a court in Germany of an Assad henchman for murder and mayhem in Syria. There is no doubt in my mind that the chain of evidence and the actions of this Congress, the actions of the United Nations, to promptly set up an evidence protection and evidence documentation effort for Ukraine will bear fruit in coming days. Those are all efforts standing on the shoulders of Ben Ferencz and his colleagues in Nuremburg.

I urge all my colleagues to support this recognition of his efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6015) to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Benjamin Berell Ferencz, in recognition of his service to the United States and international community during the post-World War II Nuremberg trials and lifelong advocacy for international criminal justice and rule of law, as amended.

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

Today I will share with my colleagues the incredible life story and mission of Benjamin Ferencz, the chief prosecutor at the Einsatzgruppen Trial in Nuremberg, Germany, the man who brought to justice the individuals responsible for orchestrating the horrific war crimes committed during World War II.

I thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel) for sponsoring H.R. 6015, this bill, honoring Mr. Ferencz's life and legacy. Benjamin Ferencz and his family immigrated to the United States when he was an infant, fleeing the persecution of Hungarian Jews in Romania.

He grew up poor in New York, but his perseverance, intellect, and yearning for justice earned him a scholarship from Harvard Law School. He joined the Army shortly after graduation and was tasked with gathering evidence on Nazi war crimes against the Jewish people and other marginalized groups, a fate that his own family could have met had they not fled.

At the age of 27, he was appointed chief prosecutor for the United States Army for a case involving war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by 22 individuals from Einsatzgruppen, a Nazi secret police death squad operating in Nazi-controlled Eastern Europe. He declared in his opening statement that the purpose of this case was ``to affirm by international penal action man's right to live in peace and dignity, regardless of his race or creed . . . a plea of humanity to law.''

The 22 defendants were charged with the murder of over one million people, including Jews, ethnic minorities, political dissidents, persons with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ community, those who the Third Reich deemed to be different and, therefore, lesser. Mr. Ferencz secured conviction for all 22 defendants.

He spent the following decade advocating for the institution of an international criminal court and the international rule of law to prevent something like the Nuremberg trials from ever being necessary again. As Ferencz stated, ``If law is to be respected it must apply equally to everyone everywhere. If a permanent international criminal court had already existed, these ad hoc tribunals would not have been necessary.''

Throughout his life, Mr. Ferencz sought to make the world a safer, more equitable, and more peaceful place through his denunciations of war and his advocacy for the institution of international criminal law.

For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6015, which would grant Mr. Ferencz the highest congressional honor for his tireless efforts to advance justice.

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

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lois Frankel), the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Manning).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, the gentlewoman from Florida, Congresswoman Frankel, for her leadership in sponsoring H.R. 6015, and for working so hard to ensure that Mr. Ferencz receives the recognition that he so clearly deserves.

Through his prosecutorial work, his teaching, his written works and his advocacy, for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, he has directly and indirectly brought countless criminals to justice and left a lasting humanitarian legacy.

The recent reports of Russian atrocities being committed against the people of Ukraine are a reminder that war crimes are far from being a relic of a past.

Now more than ever, we must act to honor and uplift those who have dedicated their lives to advancing justice, peace, and giving a voice to the voiceless.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 6015, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and to my colleagues for their articulate words today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise with great pride as we move forward with a bipartisan bill to award the last living Nuremberg prosecutor, a prosecutor against Nazi criminals, Mr. Benjamin Ferencz, awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress' highest expression of appreciation for distinguished achievements.

In this day of partisan conflict, this is a rare show of bipartisanship with 296 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle. Mr. Ferencz is 102 years old, and to this day, is a tireless advocate for the rule of law and international justice. I have met Mr. Ferencz because I am blessed to say he is my constituent in Del Ray Beach, Florida, and he remains very alert and very humble.

My colleagues have said it, and I am going to quickly repeat a little of his history.

Mr. Ferencz emigrated to the United States with his family--he was only 10 months old--to escape the persecution of Jews in Eastern Europe. He grew up in New York City, eventually earning degrees from City College and Harvard Law School before serving in the Army during World War II.

He enlisted under General Patton before being transferred to a newly created war crimes unit to help collect evidence of Nazi war crimes. He would enter concentration camps and come face to face with the horrors of the Nazi regime's systematic murder of millions of Jews.

He once said: ``Even today, when I close my eyes, I witness a deadly vision I can never forget--the crematoria aglow with the fire of burning flesh, the mounds of emaciated corpses stacked like cordwood waiting to be burned. I had peered into hell.''

After the war, he was honorably discharged and awarded five battle stars for his service. And that is when he was recruited for his most notable role, chief prosecutor of the Nuremberg trial, that was later called the biggest murder trial in history. At age 27, it was his first case, and yet, he rose to the occasion, reminding the courtroom and the world that this was a case that dealt with our humanity.

And in his closing statement, he concluded about the Nazis on trial: ``Death was their tool and life their toy.'' And if they were found innocent: `` . . . then law has lost its meaning and man must live in fear.'' Not only did his words ring true in the courtroom, where all 22 Nazis officials he prosecuted were brought to justice, they resonated around the world and have been quoted time and time again when the international community rallies to decry crimes against humanity.

Nearly 80 days after the conclusion of these trials, we meet here during Jewish American History Month, after having just celebrated Israel's Independence Day and observing Yom HaShoah, the day set aside for Jews to remember the Holocaust. It is important to recognize we are still fighting the ongoing battle against racism, anti-Semitism, and Holocaust denial in this country and around the world, as we witness in horror the inhumanity of Putin's war on Ukraine.

So the timing of this bill has never been more important because Mr. Ferencz inspires us to stand up to the cruel barbarians of this world. Mr. Ferencz said it best: ``Nuremberg taught me that creating a world of tolerance and compassion would be a long and arduous task.'' His lifelong philosophy of ``law not war'' and ``never give up'' was quoted recently by Ukraine's Ambassador.

Today, in bipartisan fashion, we are going to recognize this magnificent man, committed to justice, peace, and human dignity with the Congressional Gold Medal.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Congresswoman Frankel, for her efforts to recognize the hard work and dedication of Benjamin Ferencz. It is quite fitting that Mr. Ferencz be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his remarkable work prosecuting Nazis during the Nuremburg trials at this particular time.

First, because at a time when immigrants are being villainized, Mr. Ferencz is an example of an immigrant who fled to this country from the persecution of Jews by the Nazis and made this country proud with his military service and with his tireless advocacy for justice at the Nuremburg trials.

Second, because at a time of rising anti-Semitism globally and in this country, it is important to honor Mr. Ferencz who fought to hold responsible those whose anti-Semitic actions resulted in an unprecedented genocide: the murder of 6 million innocent Jews.

Third, because today we are witnessing another tyrant, Vladimir Putin, who reminds us of the brutality, the unprovoked aggression, and the unbridled cruelty of Adolf Hitler and his war machine.

We can only hope that when Mr. Putin's aggression against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people is put to an end, we have honorable and highly- skilled people like Mr. Ferencz who will hold Putin and other war criminals accountable in a court of law.

Finally, during this Jewish History Month, it is a privilege to recognize a Jew who served his country and his people with distinction, honor, and success. Mr. Ferencz was the embodiment of the Biblical instruction: Justice, justice you shall pursue.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Ms. Frankel, for her effort to make sure this Gold Medal is awarded to such a deserving recipient.