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Texas Senate adopts resolution recognizing International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Summary
The Texas Senate unanimously adopted Senate Resolution 15 recognizing Jan. 27–28, 2025 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day and Texas Holocaust Remembrance Week, with multiple senators warning about rising antisemitism and urging continued education.
The Texas Senate on Tuesday adopted Senate Resolution 15, designating Jan. 27, 2025, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the start of Texas Holocaust Remembrance Week. Senator Joan Huffman moved that the resolution be adopted and the chair called for adoption without recorded objections; the resolution was adopted.
The resolution’s author, Senator Brian King, told colleagues the designation coincides with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and urged lawmakers to support curriculum and programs that “instill in students a sense of responsibility to recognize and uphold human value.” King said the observance honors the 6,000,000 Jewish victims of the Holocaust and “the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution.”
Senator José Menéndez noted the legislature previously passed Senate Bill 1828 establishing Holocaust Remembrance Week and praised the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission’s educational work. “There are so many people, especially young people, who are denying that the Holocaust ever existed,” Menéndez said, adding that education is essential to preventing future atrocities.
Other senators who spoke in favor included Paul Bettencourt, who emphasized the importance of living memory while survivors remain, and Senator Hughes, who recounted visits to Holocaust memorials and underscored the scale of the atrocity. Several members related personal or family experiences and urged vigilance against antisemitism and other forms of hatred.
Senator King closed by describing testimony at the post‑World War II Nuremberg trials and said that remembering the Holocaust is necessary because “if it happened then… it can happen again and it can happen anywhere.” The chamber adopted the resolution and then ordered the names of the lieutenant governor and all senators added to the measure.
The resolution passed by voice vote (no recorded nay vote) and will be entered into the Senate’s records as SR 15.
