HJ0068eng 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0068 Engrossed LRB098 19491 GRL 54666 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 68

WHEREAS, During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Pentagon officials discovered a trove of thousands of centuries-old artifacts from Iraq's Jewish community in the basement of Saddam Hussein's intelligence service headquarters; and

WHEREAS, These artifacts were improperly seized by force from their rightful owners by the regime of Saddam Hussein, which then stored them in a flooded basement, most likely in an effort to marginalize the culture and history of Mesopotamian Jews; and

WHEREAS, The artifacts were brought to the United States in 2003, where they were carefully cleaned, preserved, photographed, and displayed at the National Archives; and

WHEREAS, The United States Department of State has announced its plans to return the Iraqi Jewish Archive collection to the government of Iraq in the summer of 2014, claiming the Iraqi people are the rightful owners; and

WHEREAS, More than 40 American Jewish groups have expressed their deep misgivings about returning the artifacts to Iraq, citing "uncertain conditions" in Iraq and calling for the artifacts to be given to the synagogues of Iraqi Jews around the world; and

WHEREAS, The Pentagon official who discovered the collection, Harold Rhode, has likened the prospective return of the artifacts to "giving the personal effects of Jews killed in the Holocaust back to Germany"; and

WHEREAS, Religious documents and artifacts such as these are sacred and should properly be returned to the Jewish communities from which they were stolen; and

WHEREAS, The United States Senate has unanimously passed Senate Resolution 333 calling for the United States to renegotiate the return of the Iraqi Jewish Archive collection to Iraq; and

WHEREAS, United States House Resolution 505, which echoes United States Senate Resolution 333, was introduced into the United States House of Representatives; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the United States Department of State to renegotiate with the Government of Iraq the provisions of the original agreement in order to ensure that the Iraqi Jewish Archive collection be kept in a place where its long-term preservation and care can be guaranteed; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the relevant authorities to house the Iraqi Jewish Archive collection in a location that is accessible to scholars and to Iraqi Jews and their descendants who have a personal interest in it; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the President of the United States, the Secretary of State of the United States, and the members of the Illinois congressional delegation.