This week, the U.S. House once again passed a resolution from two Florida representatives urging Germany to “fulfill its moral responsibility to Holocaust survivors and urgently provide the financial resources necessary to ensure that Survivors live in dignity and comfort in their remaining years.” A concurrent resolution, offered by one of Florida’s two senators, passed the upper chamber.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla,. brought out the resolution back in April. They were joined by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in introducing the proposal. Back in 2014, Nelson and Collins held a meeting of the Senate Aging Committee focused on Holocaust survivors.
“The House took another step today in showing our steadfast commitment to Holocaust survivors,” Ros-Lehtinen, the chairwoman of the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, said after the House vote on Monday. “With the House and Senate now having passed the same concurrent resolution urging Germany to reaffirm its commitment to comprehensively, transparently and immediately address the needs of all Holocaust survivors, Congress has signaled that our ally Germany can and must do better.”
Back in July, Germany agreed to provide more financial assistance to Holocaust survivors, announcing it would lift caps on assistance to Holocaust survivors for home care. But Ros-Lehtinen dismissed that announcement on Monday.
“The announcement by the Claims Conference and Germany earlier this summer that all caps on home care needs were to be lifted has been found to be less than accurate,” Ros-Lehtinen said.“The current process has been wanting and riddled with problems, and that is why Germany must move to fulfill its obligations to all survivors directly and comprehensively. Holocaust survivors have lived through the worst days imaginable – they deserve justice and they deserve to live out their days in dignity and comfort.”
Deutch, the ranking Democrat on the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee and often an ally on Ros-Lehtinen, sounded a little more upbeat about Germany’s lifting of the cap.
“We introduced this bill to send the German government a clear, unified message that Congress is watching the negotiations carefully and expects the government to live up to its obligation to Survivors," Deutch said on Monday. "I was very pleased to see the Germans agree to dramatically increase funding for survivors' care and remove caps on home care coverage. As survivors age and their needs grow, we in Congress will continue to work to ensure that they have the care they need to live their remaining days in dignity."
Co-sponsors from Florida included Republicans Gus Bilirakis, Carlos Curbelo, Ron DeSantis and Mario Diaz-Balart and Democrats Lois Frankel, Alan Grayson, Patrick Murphy, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Frederica Wilson.
