Israel and Jewish Issues
Throughout her years in Congress Congresswoman Maloney has been a vocal proponent for a close relationship between the United States and Israel. Israel is a strong American ally and the only real democracy in the Middle East. Congresswoman Maloney has stood with her constituents to support Israel at rallies in her district, as well as on the floor of the House.
Maintaining a strong US-Israel relationship: Congresswoman Maloney has always stood with her constituents in support of Israel. Israel has withstood decades of attacks from its neighbors, and yet has managed to maintain a flourishing, free and open, multi-cultural society that is at the forefront of many technological and medical breakthroughs. It is imperative that the United States maintains a strong relationship with the nation.
Foreign Aid: Every year, Congresswoman Maloney votes in support of maintaining $3.1 billion in annual aid to Israel. In the summer of 2014, Congresswoman Maloney also supported increased funding for the Iron Dome.
Ensuring Nazi war criminals do not receive Social Security benefits: Dozens of known Nazi war criminals have received millions of dollars in Social Security benefits since the Holocaust from the United States. Congresswoman Maloney has championed the effort to ensure the government ends all of these payments and holds these criminals accountable for their horrific human rights violations.
Facilitating a Two-State Solution: The United States should use its diplomatic and development tools to encourage Palestinian leaders to recognize Israel as a Jewish State and end terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.
Combatting Anti-Semitism: Congresswoman Maloney participated in an anti-Durban II conference and has spoken out against anti-Semitic acts around the world. She is also a member of the task force against anti-Semitism.
Select Highlights
- Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act: Congresswoman Maloney sponsored this act, which was signed into law on March 25, 2005. This law opened sealed government files that had remained closed for more than 50 years after World War II, in an attempt to create more transparency for Holocaust victims or their surviving family members and hold war criminals accountable. These files showed what the United States knew about these criminals and contained details of the United States’ relationships with former war criminals from Nazi Germany and Japan.
- Holocaust Education Assistance Act: The Holocaust was one of the darkest points in world history. Congresswoman Maloney believes it is important that current and future generations have an opportunity to study and better understand the Holocaust so that the country and world truly never forget. This legislation authorizes the Secretary of Education to issue competitive grants to educational organizations to initiate and fund educational programs on the Holocaust.
- SNCF Compensation for U.S. Holocaust Victims: In 2011 Congresswoman Maloney introduced the Holocaust Rail Justice Act. This legislation allowed Holocaust survivors and their families, who suffered death or injury while being transported to concentration camps on the national French-owned Rail line (SNCF) between 1942 and 1944, to seek justice from SNCF in U.S. courts. This important legislation sparked negotiations in 2015 between France and the U.S. State Department, which led to a historic settlement for these Holocaust victims. Read More
For other legislation and related documents click here.
More on Israel and Jewish Issues
NEW YORK – Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) today released the following statement on the Holocaust reparations negotiations between the French and United States governments.
“I welcome the news that the French are open to changing their Holocaust reparations program so that it covers more victims who were transported on SNCF trains during the Holocaust. These reparations are long overdue and the ongoing discussions are a positive step. That being said, I will continue working to pass the Holocaust Rail Justice Act and actively work against all contracts to SNCF or its subsidiaries until the issue is resolved and justice has been served.”
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) today applauded new legislation introduced in the Maryland state legislature that would deny contracts to companies that were complicit in the Holocaust unless those companies have paid restitution to the victims. Maryland’s Department of Transportation recently announced that Keolis, a company which is majority-owned by Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF), has been selected to bid on the Purple Line rail extension project. The bill introduced by Maryland State Senator Joan Carter Conway (D-Baltimore) and Delegate Kirill Reznik (D-Montgomery County) would automatically deny the contract to Keolis and SNCF due to their collaboration with the Nazis and refusal to provide any restitution to victims.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On a recent trip to Poland to observe the 69th anniversary of liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) stood by the very rail line that brought over a million men, women and children to their death. And one of the central facts of the Holocaust was inescapable. The Holocaust could never have occurred on such a vast, methodical and murderously efficient scale, had it not been for transportation infrastructure of a modern industrial state. Eichmann’s willing collaborators made sure the death trains ran on time. Now, an affiliate of one of the same railroad companies that brought victims to the Nazi death camps could win a contract to build a new metro line in the DC area.
WASHINGTON— Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) today sent a letter to Maryland’s Department of Transportation requesting that the state sever ties with a French rail firm that aided the Nazi’s during World War II. Today is the 69th anniversary of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Maryland’s Department of Transportation recently announced that Keos, which is majority-owned by Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF), has been selected to bid on the Purple Line rail extension project. SNCF, which collaborated with the Nazi’s to transfer more than 76,000 Jews and thousands of other “undesirables” to concentration camps, has yet to provide restitution to victims.
NEW YORK -- After hearing of the death of Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY-12) released the following statement:
"There have been few people in modern history as courageously dedicated to the cause of a great people. Whether you agreed with him or not, Ariel Sharon stood astride the State of Israel from its inception as a fierce guardian dedicated to its survival. My thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family, and with the people of Israel on this sad occasion."
WASHINGTON,DC – Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, condemned statements made by Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a U.N. conference, equating Zionism to “crimes against humanity.”
New York, NY – Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney joined the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC) and many of her colleagues in government to express support for “Operation Pillar of Defense,” Israel’s effort to halt the indiscriminate rocket attacks against civilian targets originating from the Gaza Strip and to disrupt the military capabilities of the perpetrators of the rocket attacks. Her statement, first delivered at a press conference near the Israel Consulate in Turtle Bay follows:
WASHINGTON, DC – Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, today condemned statements made by Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding the developing situation in Israel and Gaza. After returning from negotiation talks in Cairo, Prime Minister Erdogan called Israel a “terrorist state” due to its efforts to end Hamas’ violence against Israeli citizens.
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney released the following statement with regard to the recent explosion on a bus in Bulgaria that killed 8 (including the Bulgarian bus driver and the suicide bomber himself) and wounded more than 30 Israelis:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in support of her bill, the “Holocaust Rail Justice Act” (H.R. 1193), which would provide Holocaust survivors their day in court against the French rail company, SNCF, for its role in transporting thousands to their deaths during World War II. Today’s hearing comes at a time when SNCF is seeking U.S. high-speed rail contracts.