- Since it first opened 10 years ago, one of Washington,
DC's most popular attractions has been the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum, located adjacent to the National Mall. Created by a unanimous Act
of Congress in 1980, the Museum describes its primary mission as "to
advance and disseminate knowledge about this unprecedented tragedy; to
preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to encourage its visitors
to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the events
of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a
democracy."
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- As its Web site, http://www.ushmm.org, explains, the
museum was "built on land donated by the federal government and funded
with more than 200,000 private donationsAs required by law, all funds for
planning, constructing and equipping the museum were raised exclusively
from private, tax-deductible contributions."
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- That was then, however. Now American taxpayers provide
some 67 percent of the Holocaust Museum's annual budget, this year to the
tune of $38.4 million. Its funding for fiscal year 2004 was increased to
$39,997,000. By comparison, this year the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts received less than $34 million in federal funding. That
figure was cut to $32,560,000 for fiscal year 2004.
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- On Oct. 12, 2000, moreover, then-President Bill Clinton
signed legislation granting the museum permanent status as a federal agency,
in effect locking in federal support. As a museum press release explained
at the time, "Permanent status permits Congress to provide funding
without having to review the federal role. Every U.S. government entity
requires congressional authority before funds can be allocated; but not
every federal institution is given permanent status."
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- It is Congress, of course, which allocates taxpayer dollars-specifically,
in the case of the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the House Appropriations
Committee's subcommittee on interior and related agencies. In addition
to the Department of Interior, "other agencies" for which the
subcommittee is responsible include the National Endowments for the Arts
and for the Humanities, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution,
the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Kenndy Center.
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- Washington Report readers who wish to keep track of how
many of their tax dollars go to support the Holocaust Museum are therefore
advised to pay attention to news reports on federal arts and humanities
funding-and to continue reading beyond the first few paragraphs.
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- It's not only the legislative branch which supports the
Holocaust Memorial Museum, however. On Sept. 3 the Anti-Defamation League-which
a few years ago was ordered to cease spying on American citizens-proudly
announced that it had been awarded a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department
of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to support
a joint ADL/Holocaust Memorial Museum training program for law enforcement
professionals.
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- According to the ADL press release, the program "brings
law enforcement officers to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington,
DC for an intensive program that challenges them to examine their relationship
with the public and to explore issues of personal responsiblity and ethical
conduct."
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- Americans well might wonder why, at a time when a memorial
to World War II veterans who died for this country only now is being undertaken,
when a national museum dedicated to Native Americans is just being completed,
and when ground is far from being broken for a museum devoted to African
Americans-the latter two groups having suffered here, at the hands of this
country-the U.S. government places a higher priority on a museum dedicated
to the victims and survivors of a European horror.
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- http://www.wrmea.com/archives/December_2003/0312009.html
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- Comment
Steven Silverman
1-22-4
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- Another example of Zionist manipulation of the goodwill
of its American cash cow. Shame on our people...if we can't be gracious
enough to the US for giving us the land to use and pay for our own memorial,
we shouldn't have one there. I am weary of the criticism of Jews as being
money leaches and manipulators. Unfortunately, some of it is warranted.
It's time for Jews to wake up. Most of my own family doesn't get it.
I do. And that's a start.
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