A letter signed by eight Senators and 10 Representatives is being circulated in both Houses of Congress, urging their colleagues to join in co-sponsoring legislation to establish on a permanent basis “the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council which will have the responsibility to plan and carry out the recommendations of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust.”
The letter notes that the Commission was established on Nov. 1, 1978, by President Carter “to recommend a fitting memorial to all those who perished in the Nazi Holocaust as well as other victims of persecution.” The Commission recommended to the President that “a permanent living memorial museum to the victims of the Holocaust be established,” the letter says. “In addition, the Commission recommended that one week each year would be designated as “Days of Remembrance” to be marked by a national, civic commemoration and appropriate private and public observances.” The museum will be in Washington.
Asserting that the costs to the government of the Council and memorial should be “minimal,” the letter says the operating costs of the Council will be below $750,000. “The cost of the memorial itself should be financed primarily through direct private contributions,” the letter says. “There may be some need for public funds in the form of seed money at same future point, but we expect this also to be minimal. We are persuaded that all Americans, regardless of faith or national origin, will wish to be involved in the creation of this memorial.”
A copy of the letter, mode available to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, shows the five Representatives and five Senators who were members of the original commission top the list of those who signed the letter being circulated. They are Reps. William Lehman (D.Fla.), James Blanchard (D. Mich.), William Green (R. NY), Stephen Solarz (D. NY), and Sidney Yates (D. III.) and Sens. John Danforth (R. Mo.), Henry Jackson (D. Wash.), Claiborne Pell (D. RI), Richard Stone (D. Fla.) and Rudy Boschwitz (R. Minn.).
In addition, the originators of the letter include Reps. Phillip Burton (D. Calif.), John Brodemas (D. Ind.), James Wright (D. Tex.) and Robert Michel (R. III.). Additional Senators are Alan Cranston (D. Calif.), Howard Baker (R. Tenn.) and Ted Stevens (R. Alaska).
DUE FOR INTRODUCTION AUG. 18
At the offices of Lehman and Danforth, which are coordinating the effort, the JTA was informed that the legislation will probably be introduced in both branches of Congress about Aug. 18 when they reconvene following the Democratic Convention in New York. The letter has drawn more than 75 co-sponsors in the House and 22 in the Senate since it began circulating last week.
The draft legislation attached to the letter calls for the Council to consist of 60 members appointed by the President and that those other than the 10 members of Congress shall serve five-year terms. The terms of the Congress members shall be coterminous with each term of Congress. The President will appoint the chairperson and vice chairperson of the Council which will have a director and a staff. The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Capital Planning Commission will “advise and assist the Council in formulating and carrying out its recommendations,” according to the draft legislation.
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