Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E92-E93]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NEVER AGAIN EDUCATION ACT
______
speech of
HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE
of texas
in the house of representatives
Monday, January 27, 2020
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 943,
``Never Again Education Act,'' which requires the creation of the
Holocaust Education Assistance Program Fund for the Department of
Education.
The fund will award grants to qualified entities to implement
Holocaust education programs and host a series of regional workshops to
provide teachers with assistance on how to incorporate Holocaust
education into standard teaching while meeting state and local
education requirements.
The establishment of the Holocaust Education Advisory Board to
prepare application criteria for grant recipients, and the formulation
of the Holocaust education program website will allow for a regulated,
definitive introduction of this curriculum.
Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, is an international memorial
day that marks the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps in
January 1945.
In addition to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, we must also remember the
victims of the Belzec, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Chelmno, Dachau,
Dora-Mittelbau, Flossenburg, Gross-Rosen, Janowska, Kaiserwald,
Majdanek, Mauthasen, Natzweiler-Struthof, Neuengamme, Oranienburg,
Plaszow, Ravensbruck, Sachsenhausen, Sobibor, Stutthof, Terezin,
Treblinka and Westerbork concentration camps.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum states that the
extermination by the Nazi regime and its allies led to the deaths of 6
million Jews.
In addition to the millions of deaths within the Jewish community,
the Third Reich separately targeted and murdered many other communities
and ethnic groups, some estimates range from an additional 3 million to
11 million deaths.
These deaths include members of the LGBTQ community, the physically
and mentally disabled, Freemasons, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Romani,
Poles, Serbians, Spanish Republicans, members of the Soviet Union,
Soviet Prisoners of War, people of Slavic descent, Germans of African
descent, Communists, Socialists and more.
After Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, France
and Britain declared war on Germany, officially beginning World War II.
World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945 and caused about 75 million
deaths, including members of the military and civilians, around 3
percent of the world's population at the time.
Almost 75 years have passed since the end of World War II, but the
aftermath is still a reminder of a brutal and merciless era of history
[[Page E93]]
where racism and prejudice were unleashed on a grand scale seeking to
quench the rights of man.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum reports that its Registry
of Holocaust Survivors currently contains the names of over 195,000
survivors and family members.
In 1981, Holocaust survivor and Houston resident Siegi Izakson had
the inspiration to create an education center and memorial to preserve
the memory of those who perished, the stories of those who survived and
to educate the public about the threats of prejudice and hatred in
society.
Thanks to Siegi Izakson's tireless dedication, the Holocaust Museum
Houston opened on March 3, 1996 and is fully bilingual in English and
Spanish, contains a welcome center, multiple galleries, a research
library, indoor theater, outdoor amphitheater and interactive terminals
with doors open to 130,000 visitors per year.
In the United States, there are over 50 Holocaust museums and
memorials dedicated to educating people about the dangers of hatred and
genocide, protecting democratic values and preventing antisemitism.
In June 2019, Texas enacted S. Bill 1828, requiring that Texas
schools include age appropriate instruction concerning the Holocaust
for grades kindergarten through 12.
The Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission has worked with Texas
government agencies to adopt new educational standards that approach
the Holocaust, genocide and mass murders.
Texas students will learn about these topics in their World Geography
Studies, World History Studies, and United States History Studies Since
1877 courses.
I support this bill because it will enhance the quality of our
students' education and provide them with an authentic understanding of
this dark and complex chapter in world history.
The creation of the Holocaust Education Assistance Program Fund for
the Department of Education will only improve the knowledge provided to
our children.
The Holocaust Education Assistance Program Fund for the Department of
Education will award grants to eligible entities to create Holocaust
education program and conduct workshops with teachers on how to include
this information along with students' normal educational programs.
The Department of Education will maintain a Holocaust education
program website with resources for middle and high school students,
establish the Holocaust Education Advisory Board to develop criteria
for the fund's grants, and decide on content for the Holocaust
education program website and lead efforts to promote donations for the
fund.
The Holocaust requires us to remember the magnitude with which
antisemitism, racism, Nazism and fascism destroyed millions of lives,
as well as consider the consequences of apathy and passivity.
I ask my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to vote in support
of H.R. 943.
____________________