Louise Slaughter: “Mr. Speaker, since its opening in 1993, the Holocaust Memorial Museum has become one of the most visited sites in…”

“Mr. Speaker, since its opening in 1993, the Holocaust Memorial Museum has become one of the most visited sites in Washington with nearly 15 million visitors in the past 7 years. This museum is a living memorial to the victims of the Holocaust and serves as the focus for education on the lessons of that great human tragedy in the hopes that one day we can rid the Earth of all genocide. The underlying bill, H.R. 4115, would establish the museum as an independent entity of the Federal Government. Moreover, the measure provides the board of trustees with overall governance responsibility. This legislation was introduced at the request of the council and the director of the museum. This is a noncontroversial change in the operations of the museum which deserves the support of the House. I am particularly proud to speak in support of this bill because of my own experience of working with Holocaust survivors. The Holocaust embodied the worst of what human beings can do, and yet so many survivors are still filled with hope and faith in the basic goodness of human nature.”