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Senator Weiner reads Elie Wiesel passage to mark Yom HaShoah on Senate floor
Summary
Senator Weiner observed Yom HaShoah on the Senate floor, reading an extended passage attributed to Elie Wiesel recalling Auschwitz and urging opposition to fanaticism and racial hate; he closed by calling for remembrance and reflection.
Senator Weiner used his time on the floor to mark Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and read a passage he attributed to Elie Wiesel about the liberation of Auschwitz and the duty to remember its victims.
Weiner prefaced his remarks by saying the words were not his and that he had edited them for the occasion. The reading included personal and vivid imagery — “I speak to you as a man who 50 years and 9 days ago had no name, no hope, no future, and was known only by his number A7713” — and concluded with a call to reject religious fanaticism and racial hate.
Why it matters: The floor observance placed Holocaust remembrance in the public record of the Senate session and framed it as a moral prompt for legislators to oppose hate and uphold human dignity.
Quotes: Weiner (quoting Elie Wiesel): “In this place of darkness and malediction, we can but stand in awe and remember its stateless, faceless, and nameless victims.”
Next steps: The observance was ceremonial and did not result in policy action recorded in this transcript. The Senate proceeded with member announcements and later adjourned.
