Ted Deutch: “I thank my friend, Congressman Norcross, for yielding. I am thankful for Congresswoman Maloney's leadership and…”

“I thank my friend, Congressman Norcross, for yielding. I am thankful for Congresswoman Maloney's leadership and commitment to Holocaust education. I appreciate Chairman Scott's leadership in helping to bring this bill to the floor. I am thankful to all of my colleagues, Democratic and Republican alike; the Education and Labor Committee; the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum; and the Jewish community organizations, which all worked together to promote Holocaust education. Last week, I was honored to participate in a bipartisan delegation led by Speaker Pelosi that visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. It was my first time there, and I walked through the gates where more than 1 million people perished. The magnitude of the effort of the Nazis to try to eradicate the Jewish people was shocking. I was shaken by the sight of the crematorium, the gas chambers, and the piles of hair, glasses, personal effects, and everything gathered in a way to dehumanize the Jews before they were even slaughtered. It has been 75 years since Auschwitz was liberated, and today, there are few remaining survivors who can share their stories firsthand. Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. We must carry on and honor their memories as a stark and enduring warning to future generations, but recent polls show that we are failing to live up to that solemn responsibility. Less than half of Americans know how many Jews died in the Holocaust. Among teenagers, it is barely one-third.…”