Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 74
CHAPTER 97
Relative to the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
July 15, 2003.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 74, Steinberg.
The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.
This resolution would state the position of the Legislature that Holocaust related funds obtained by the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims be disbursed to, or on behalf of, Holocaust survivors living in poverty, in order to meet their basic needs, including food, shelter, and medical care thereby allowing them to live out the remainder of their lives in comfort and dignity. This resolution would also request that the California Insurance Commissioner utilize his seat on the commission to implement the intent of the Legislature.
Digest Key
WHEREAS, The Holocaust was a tragedy of proportions the world had never before witnessed; and
WHEREAS, More than 60 years have passed since the tragic events we now call the Holocaust transpired in which the dictatorship of Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews as part of a systematic program of genocide known as “The Final Solution of the Jewish Question”; and
WHEREAS, There are an estimated 127,000 to 145,000 Holocaust survivors in the United States, many of whom are elderly and infirm and some of whom are living in abject poverty and lacking basic needs including food, shelter, and medical care; and
WHEREAS, There are an estimated 20,000 Holocaust survivors living in California, with an average of 80 years of age; and
WHEREAS, Forty percent of Holocaust survivors are needy, as defined by federal standards; and
WHEREAS, Too many Holocaust survivors are currently suffering from a lack of resources to provide themselves adequate health care, prescription medication, and a satisfactory quality of life; and
WHEREAS, The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) was established in 1998 and charged with establishing a just process that will expeditiously address the issue of unpaid insurance policies issued to victims of the Holocaust; and
WHEREAS, The first priorities of the ICHEIC must be to publish all available information relating to victims’ insurance policies, to secure payment of claims expeditiously, and to publicly account for all the actions occurring under its auspices; and
WHEREAS, Claimants who are not satisfied with the ICHEIC retain the right to pursue their claims in a court of law; and
WHEREAS, The California Insurance Commissioner holds a seat on the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the California State Legislature assert that as long as Holocaust survivors living anywhere in the world are lacking basic needs, including food, shelter, medical care, or any other form of assistance now or hereafter deemed necessary to allow them to live out the remainder of their lives in comfort and dignity, any and all humanitarian and unclaimed Holocaust related funds now or hereafter obtained by the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims shall be promptly disbursed to or on behalf of Holocaust survivors in order to meet those needs in fair proportion to their numbers worldwide based on accurate population data, with full and transparent accounting for the use of funds so dispersed; and be it further
Resolved, That the California State Legislature respectfully requests the California Insurance Commissioner to utilize his seat on the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims to implement the intent of this resolution; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.