On the recordJanuary 5, 2016
This morning I toured an exhibit at Florida International University's Jewish Museum of Florida, located in Miami Beach, which details the discovery and recovery of artifacts depicting Jewish life in Iraq over the centuries. I was privileged to be joined by members of the Iraqi Jewish community, including Hillel Shohet and his brother, Maurice Shohet, who played key roles in ensuring that these artifacts remain with the Jewish community. I was also proud to lead the effort here in Congress to keep the artifacts in the U.S. I led that effort along with my colleague, the gentleman from New York, Steve Israel, and other congressional colleagues. These treasures, Mr. Speaker, were confiscated from the Jewish community by Saddam Hussein's intelligence service and were discarded until they were discovered in a flooded basement by our American servicemembers in the year 2003. They were then brought back to our National Archives where they were painstakingly recovered and preserved. Mr. Speaker, this exhibit is an important piece of the Jewish community's collective memory and must continue to be preserved and shared for generations to come. ____________________
