26 GOP Senators Oppose Commission to Study Plight of Jewish Refugees

NJDC ED Ira Forman Says No Votes: "Beyond Comprehension"

WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Senate passed legislation offered by Senator Russ Feingold, Senator Joseph Lieberman, and Senator Daniel Inouye that will create a commission to study the treatment of Jewish refugees by the U.S. government during World War II. Twenty-six Republican Senators opposed the legislation.

"The fact that more than two dozen Republican Senators saw fit to oppose this legislation is beyond comprehension," said NJDC Executive Director Ira Forman. "The treatment of Jewish refugees during World War II was a dark period in American history. Senators Feingold, Lieberman, and Inouye should be commended for working to bring the truth about this issue to light."

The legislation was offered as an amendment to the Senate's immigration bill, because of a Republican parliamentary maneuver that blocked a standalone version of the legislation.

Several of the Senators opposing the legislation are up for re-election in 2008, including Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and John Warner (R-VA).

"Senator Chamblis, Senator Dole, Senator Domenici, Senator McConnell, and Senator Warner will have a lot of explaining to do about this vote when they face the voters in 2008," said Forman.

All opponents of the legislation are Republicans.

In addition to providing for a commission to study the plight of Jewish refugees, the legislation would create a commission to study the plight of European Americans during World War II, citing the arrest and detention of thousands of European Americans during the War. The San Jose Mercury News has more on the legislation:

"The amendment would create two fact-finding commissions to take testimony. The first would review the government treatment of Germans, Italians and Europeans in the United States and those shipped from Latin America. They would explore the camps in Crystal City, Kenedy and Segoville, Texas, Missoula, Mont., and Bismarck, N.D. They would ask about whole families who were exchanged for prisoners, dumped in the middle of hostile countries as war raged. They would hear the impact of being rendered destitute, bank accounts frozen, financial holdings simply taken away. They would hear how some were held three years after the war was over in 1945.

"The second commission would review the treatment of Jewish refugees, such as those aboard the infamous S.S. St. Louis. Known as "the Voyage of the Damned" in 1939, the St. Louis went from Cuba to Florida and Canada unable to unload its 937 asylum-seeking passengers.

"Neither commission wants reparations. Advocates, however, want to document what happened, why actions were taken, and make findings in the hope that future challenges better balance national security with civil liberties." [San Jose Mercury-News, 6/4/07]