Rep. Brown Celebrates Bicameral Passage of Bill Designating the Kol Israel Foundation Holocaust Memorial as a National Memorial

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Shontel M. Brown (OH-11) issued the following statement on the inclusion of her House-passed bill, H.R. 7618, in the Fiscal Year 2023 government funding package. Rep. Brown’s legislation designates the Kol Israel Foundation Holocaust Memorial, located in Bedford Heights, OH, as a national memorial.

“I am pleased that my legislation to designate the Kol Israel Holocaust Memorial as a national memorial received bipartisan, bicameral support and has advanced out of both chambers of Congress as part of the omnibus package,” said Rep. Brown. “This is a momentous day for the survivors who erected this memorial and their families who continue its maintenance. It gives me great satisfaction to have this historic memorial receive national recognition.  Its work educating people about the Holocaust and remembering its six million Jewish victims with love deserves no less.”

The commemorative, bipartisan bill was introduced by Rep. Brown in April with original cosponsors Reps. Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Tim Ryan (OH-13), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Dave Joyce (OH-14), Troy Balderson (OH-12), Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16) and Mike Carey (OH-15). Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman introduced a companion bill in the Senate. 

“I am proud that Kol Israel will now be recognized as a national memorial,” said Senator Brown. “The Kol Israel Memorial Foundation educates Ohioans about the horrors of the Holocaust and preserves the memories of its victims. When we pass that knowledge on to future generations, we recommit ourselves to ensuring it never happens again, and to fighting for a more just and peaceful world.”

“We must never forget the horrors of the Holocaust and the enormous suffering endured by the Jewish people. The Kol Israel Holocaust Memorial was erected six decades ago in Northeast Ohio to honor the victims of the Holocaust and to serve as a lasting reminder of the evil that occurred,” said Senator Portman. “I am pleased our bipartisan, bicameral legislation to designate Kol Israel a National Memorial has been included in the end of the year spending package and look forward to it being signed into law.”

“Sixty years after it was first raised, the United States Congress is now recognizing the Kol Israel Foundation Holocaust Memorial as the sacred national monument it truly is. It has been an honor to work with Representative Shontel Brown in the mission to reach this critical historical milestone,” said Rep. Kaptur.

“I am thrilled we are one step closer to signing into law our bipartisan legislation to designate the Kol Israel Foundation Holocaust Memorial as a national memorial,” said Rep. Ryan. “This designation will support the Foundation’s crucial and enduring work of preserving the memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and serve as a solemn reminder of our obligation to speak out and act against hate and injustice." 

“It is with great pride that Congress has designated the Kol Israel Memorial in Bedford Heights, Ohio, as a national memorial,” said Rep. Beatty. “As we witness continued violence on the global stage and an increase in antisemitic rhetoric, the need to honor and remember victims of genocide is all the more pressing. Holocaust education is vital if we hope to live up to the promise of ‘Never Again,’ and I am glad Ohio is the home of this important national memorial.“ 

“In 1961 a group of Holocaust Survivors built a Memorial to their loved ones who perished in the Holocaust. Today, the Congress of the United States honored the Kol Israel Foundation members by making that Monument a National Memorial,” said Robert Zelwin, President of Kol Israel Foundation. “This will represent a triumph over evil by those heroic individuals who persevered against overwhelming odds. Our family members would be "kvelling" (beaming with pride) if they were alive today to see this. A heartfelt thank you to all of the sponsors of the bill and to the entire Congress for making this a reality and a reminder " Never again."

“We at KIF are so thrilled and pleased to know that the Bill to establish the KIF Holocaust Monument a National Memorial has been passed by the United States Congress and thereby our great Nation recognizes the historical value and the human sacrifice of those who perished in the Holocaust,” said Mark S. Frank, past President, and Memorial Chairman of the Kol Israel Foundation. “Our parents and grandparents who established the monument; and future generations will have this permanent symbol of the acknowledgment that the horrific event occurred and may rest in peace and in hope it will never happen again.”

The following Members of Congress also cosponsored H.R. 7618: Reps. Auchincloss (MA-4), Carson (IN-7), Clarke (NY-9), Van Drew (NJ-2), Fitzpatrick (PA-1), Khanna (CA-17), Lee (CA-13), Maloney (NY-12), Meng (NY-6), Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Rice (NY-4), Sires (NJ-8), Torres (NY-15), Turner (OH-10), Wild (PA-7), Gonzalez-Colon (PR-At Large), Sherman (CA-30), Stevens (MI-11), Stansbury (NM-1), Tonko (NY-20), Gottheimer (NJ-5), Lieu (CA-33).

The bill now advances to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

Background:

Erected in 1961 by survivors of the Holocaust residing in Northeast Ohio, the Kol Israel Holocaust Memorial is likely the first and oldest Holocaust memorial in the U.S. For more than 60 years, the Kol Israel Foundation has looked after the memorial, which has the ashes of Jewish victims and other tokens of remembrance buried at its base.