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“SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 73--RELATIVE TO PROPERTY CLAIMS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S11558-S11559 on Sept. 27, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 73--RELATIVE TO PROPERTY CLAIMS
Mr. D'AMATO submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Con. Res. 73
Whereas Fascist and Communist dictatorships have caused immeasurable human suffering and loss, degrading not only every conceivable human right, but the human spirit itself;
Whereas the villainy of communism was dedicated, in particular, to the organized, and systematic destruction of private property ownership;
Whereas the wrongful and illegal confiscation of property perpetrated by Fascist and Communist regimes was often specifically designed to victimize people because of their religion, national or social origin, or expressed opposition to the regimes which repressed them;
Whereas Fascists and Communists often obtained possession of properties confiscated from the victims of the systems they actively supported;
Whereas Jewish individuals and communities were often twice victimized, first by the Nazis and their collaborators and then by the subsequent Communist regimes;
Whereas churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious properties were also destroyed or confiscated as a means of breaking the spiritual devotion and allegiance of religious adherents;
Whereas Fascists, Nazis, and Communists have used foreign financial institutions to launder and hold wrongfully and illegally confiscated property and convert it to their own personal use;
Whereas some foreign financial institutions violated their fiduciary duty to their customers by converting to their own use financial assets belonging to Holocaust victims while denying heirs access to these assets;
Whereas refugees from communism, in addition to being wrongly stripped of their private property, were often forced to relinquish their citizenship in order to protect themselves and their families from reprisals by the Communists who ruled their countries;
Whereas the participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have agreed to give full recognition and protection to all types of property, including private property, as well as the right to prompt, just, and effective compensation in the event private property is taken for public use;
Whereas the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Caucasus and Central Asia, have entered a post-Communist period of transition and democratic development, and many countries have begun the difficult and wrenching process of trying to right the past wrongs of previous totalitarian regimes;
Whereas restrictions which require those whose properties have been wrongly plundered by Nazi or Communist regimes to reside in or have the citizenship of the country from which they now seek restitution or compensation are arbitrary and discriminatory in violation of international law; and
Whereas the rule of law and democratic norms require that the activity of governments and their administrative agencies be exercised in accordance with the laws passed by their parliaments or legislatures and such laws themselves must be consistent with international human rights standards: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress--
(1) welcomes the efforts of many post-Communist countries to address the complex and difficult question of the status of plundered properties;
(2) urges countries which have not already done so to return plundered properties to their rightful owners or, as an alternative, pay compensation, in accordance with principles of justice and in a manner that is just, transparent, and fair;
(3) calls for the urgent return of property formerly belonging to Jewish communities as a means of redressing the particularly compelling problems of aging and destitute survivors of the Holocaust;
(4) calls on the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and any other country with restrictions which require those whose properties have been wrongly plundered by Nazi or Communist regimes to reside in or have the citizenship of the country from which they now seek restitution or compensation to remove such restrictions from their restitution or compensation laws;
(5) calls upon foreign financial institutions, and the states having legal authority over their operation, that possess wrongfully and illegally property confiscated from Holocaust victims, from residents of former Warsaw Pact states who were forbidden by Communist law from obtaining restitution of such property, and from states that were occupied by Nazi, Fascist, or Communist forces, to assist and to cooperate fully with efforts to restore this property to its rightful owners; and
(6) urges post-Communist countries to pass and effectively implement laws that provide for restitution of, or compensation for, plundered property.
Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I submit a concurrent resolution which addresses a number of distinct, but closely related, property issues. It follows up on work already done by the Helsinki Commission, which held a hearing on this subject on July 18, 1996. This same concurrent resolution is being submitted today in the House by the Commission's distinguished Chairman, my good friend and colleague from New Jersey, Congressman Chris Smith. It is cosponsored by the majority of the Commission.
The substance of this concurrent resolution has been discussed with the Administration and parallels and supports the work being done by Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Stuart E. Eizenstat, who also serves as the U.S. Department of State Special Envoy for Property Claims in Central and Eastern Europe.
I strongly believe that there must be a full, complete and final accounting of the assets of Holocaust victims that have been wrongfully held by Swiss--and possibly other banks--for some five decades now. Those records must be opened, and the stolen assets returned to their rightful heirs. This concurrent resolution addresses that issue.
It also addresses the compelling situation of Holocaust survivors in Central and Eastern Europe. Many of these people, unlike their counterparts in Western Europe, were denied the chance to receive any compensation for their suffering or to receive the return of properties stolen by the Nazis when the iron curtain closed, leaving them at the mercy of new dictatorships. This concurrent resolution recognizes the urgent need for Jewish communal properties to be restored to their rightful owners, to help give these survivors the means to live out their final days in dignity.
Finally, this concurrent resolution speaks to the difficult and complex process underway in many post-Communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Some countries have already taken steps to return property or provide compensation for property wrongly confiscated by Communist regimes. I commend those countries for their efforts.
At the same time, I am deeply troubled that some restitution or compensation laws have discriminated against American citizens, people who lost both their property and their citizenship when they sought refuge in this country, fleeing Communist persecution. To exclude these people from efforts to right past wrongs pours salt on an open wound. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this concurrent resolution, and in sending a message that these injustices must be remedied before the passage of time carries the victims beyond our mortal abilities to offer them some recompense for their suffering.
While restoration of property ownership or compensation for its wrongful confiscation can never right the terrible wrongs done to the victims by their Nazi, fascist, and communist oppressors, it can go some way toward balancing the scales. That is what this concurrent resolution is about and why it deserves our support.
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