WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Susan Collins today observed the Days of Remembrance, our nation's annual commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust, at a ceremony in the United States Capitol Rotunda. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist recently reappointed Senator Collins to serve a second, five-year term on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, the governing body of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "I am honored to be chosen to serve a second term on the Council to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust reach as many Americans as possible," said Senator Collins. "Today's ceremony was a solemn reminder of the millions of innocent lives lost in the Holocaust. I am proud that their memory was celebrated in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, a shining symbol of freedom and democracy."
In 1980, the United States Congress established the Days of Remembrance as our nation's annual commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust, and mandated the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a permanent living memorial to the six million Jews as well as millions of others murdered by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.
The Holocaust Memorial Council consists of 55 Presidential appointees in addition to 10 Congressional representatives and three ex-officio members from the departments of Education, Interior and State. Senator Collins will serve her second term with Senators Barbara Boxer, Norm Coleman, Orrin Hatch, and Harry Reid.