The House Judiciary Committee has approved a measure to earmark more than $2 million to bring former Nazi war criminals now residing in the United States to justice. Approved unanimously by the committee, the measure introduced by Rep. Joshua Eilberg (D.Pa.) would provide the first funds ever specifically designated for the Justice Department to use exclusively to denaturalize and depart war criminals, Eilberg pointed out.
The measure is expected to go to the full House within the next few weeks as part of the Congressional authorization of funds for the Justice Department, directing that some $2 million in Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) funds be set aside for investigation and litigation in Nazi war criminal cases, according to a spokesman for Eilberg. The legislator himself said he proposed earmarking these funds to guarantee that sufficient money is available in the Justice Department to cover the growing number of war criminal cases.
Eilberg told his colleagues on the Judiciary Committee that presently, 155 cases are in various stages of investigation, and 12 are in litigation. He said prosecution in 13 additional cases has been recommended by the INS’ Nazi War Crimes Unit, with formal denaturalization and deportation proceedings to get underway “in the near future.”
The Congressman called it “essential” that Congress set aside funds to bring Nazi war criminals to justice, “so that we can guarantee that the Nazi War Crimes Unit will not have to compete for resources with other INS programs and activities.” Eilberg proposed that $2,025,000 be earmarked for the cost of investigations, following up leads in foreign countries, bringing foreign witnesses to the U.S., and the costs associated with denaturalization and deportation trials.
Eiberg said the more than $2 million will cover the cost of liaison with foreign governments, monitoring overseas trials of alleged war criminals, and reviewing records housed abroad. “Our government,” he stated, “has a heavy legal and moral responsibility to thoroughly pursue all allegations that perpetrators of crimes against humanity have found a haven in this country.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
