Senate passes bill on WWII refugees

The U.S. Senate passed an amendment that would establish a commission to investigate the plight of Jewish refugees in the United States during World War II. The legislation proposes two commissions: One would examine the plight of European Jews who attempted to reach the United States; the other would probe the internment of German Americans and Italian Americans, and the involuntary exchange of some of those internees for Americans held by Axis nations. The legislation was originally slated to stand alone as the Wartime Treatment Study Act, but a Republican senator exercised his or her right to put an anonymous hold on it. Ultimately Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), who is Jewish, tacked it on to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, and it passed Tuesday 67-26. All the votes against were by Republicans; 16 from the party voted for the amendment.The amendment does not provide reparations for families of the victims and is aimed only at looking into matters that have never been formally considered by Congress. It was sponsored by Feingold, Sen. Charles Grassley
(R-Iowa), Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Sen. Daniel Inouye
(D-Hawaii).