Subject: Holocaust Commission
From: "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:11:04 -0400

Do you think the Council is too big?  What would really interesting is to be
on the Committee on Conscience, a subcommittee of the Council charged with
preventing genocide from happening around the world.  See below.

ABOUT THE COMMITTEE ON CONSCIENCE

The Museum's work on genocide and related crimes against humanity is guided
by the Committee on Conscience, a standing committee of the Museum’s
Council.

It has been said that “conscience whispers while interest screams aloud.” In
a world where the clamor of interests often prevails, the Committee seeks to
amplify the voice of conscience.

When the President’s Commission on the Holocaust recommended in 1979 the
creation of a living memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, it observed
that no issue “was as perplexing or as urgent as the need to insure that
such a totally inhuman assault as the Holocaust – or any partial version
thereof – never recurs.” To address that need, the President’s Commission
recommended creation of a Committee on Conscience, a committee of the
Museum’s Council.

The Museum opened in 1993, and shortly thereafter, Leo Melamed, whose family
fled Nazism, formally proposed the establishment of the Committee on
Conscience as a standing committee to his fellow members of the United
States Holocaust Memorial Council. His proposal received unanimous approval
in 1995. The present Chair of the Committee is Tom
Bernstein<http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/about/members/#chairman>
.

The Committee on Conscience mandate is to alert the national conscience,
influence policy makers, and stimulate worldwide action to confront and work
to halt acts of genocide or related crimes against humanity. According to
the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide, genocide is defined as the intent to destroy, in whole or
in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.

UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL COUNCIL

(as of January 6, 2010)

*Fred S. Zeidman, Chairman, Houston, TX
Joel M. Geiderman, Vice Chairman, Los Angeles, CA
Sara J. Bloomfield, Director, Washington, DC*

Debra Abrams, Boca Raton, FL
Elliott Abrams, Great Falls, VA
Miriam O. Adelson, Las Vegas, NV
Tom A. Bernstein, New York, NY
Norman R. Bobins, Chicago, IL
Joshua B. Bolten, Bethesda, MD
Joseph M. Brodecki, Potomac, MD
Alan I. Casden, Beverly Hills, CA
Michael Chertoff, Potomac, MD
Marek J. Chodakiewicz, Washington, DC
Carol B. Cohen, Highland Park, IL
William J. Danhof, Lansing, MI
Michael David Epstein, Rockville, MD
Donald Etra, Los Angeles, CA
David M. Flaum, Rochester, NY
Marilyn R. Fox, Clayton, MO
Michael J. Gerson, Arlington, VA
JoAnne T Ginsberg, Washington, DC
Constance B. Girard-diCarlo, Philadelphia, PA
Zvi Y. Gitelman, Ann Arbor, MI
Marc Goldman, Boca Raton, FL
Sanford L. Gottesman, Austin, TX
Cheryl F. Halpern, Livingston, NJ
J. David Heller, Cleveland, OH
Andrew S. Hochberg, Northbrook, IL
Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, New York, NY
Amy Kaslow, Potomac, MD
Ezra Katz, Coconut Grove, FL
Edward I. Koch, New York, NY
Howard Konar, West Henrietta, NY
Douglas R. Korn, New York, NY
M. Ronald Krongold, Miami, FL
Michael I. Lebovitz, Chattanooga, TN
Elena N. Lefkowitz, New York, NY
Norma Lerner, Hunting Valley, OH
William S. Levine, Phoenix, AZ
Steven M. Levy, New York, NY
Hadassah F. Lieberman, New Haven, CT
Marcia P. McCraw, Seattle, WA
Kenneth B. Mehlman, Washington, DC
Michael A. Morris, Atlanta, GA
Michael B. Mukasey, New York, NY
Dennis Prager, Glendale, CA
Pierre-Richard Prosper, Salt Lake City, UT
Alan N. Rechtschaffen, New York, NY
J. Philip Rosen, New York, NY
Florence Shapiro, Plano, TX
Daniel J. Silva, Washington, DC
William F. Weld, New York, NY
Elie Wiesel, Boston, MA
Jeffrey S. Wilpon, Flushing, NY
Bradley D. Wine, Washington, DC
Judith Yudof, Oakland, CA

 Sec. 2302. Functions of the Council; membership

-STATUTE-
      (a) In General. - The United States Holocaust Memorial Council
    (hereafter in this chapter referred to as the "Council") shall be
    the board of trustees of the Museum and shall have overall
    governance responsibility for the Museum, including policy guidance
    and strategic direction, general oversight of Museum operations,
    and fiduciary responsibility. The Council shall establish an
    Executive Committee which shall exercise ongoing governance
    responsibility when the Council is not in session.
      (b) Composition of Council; Appointment; Vacancies. - The Council
    shall consist of 65 voting members appointed (except as otherwise
    provided in this section) by the President and the following ex
    officio nonvoting members:
        (1) One appointed by the Secretary of the Interior.
        (2) One appointed by the Secretary of State.
        (3) One appointed by the Secretary of Education.

    Of the 65 voting members, five shall be appointed by the Speaker of
    the United States House of Representatives from among Members of
    the United States House of Representatives and five shall be
    appointed by the President pro tempore of the United States Senate
    upon the recommendation of the majority and minority leaders from
    among Members of the United States Senate. Any vacancy in the
    Council shall be filled in the same manner as the original
    appointment was made.
      (c) Term of Office. -
        (1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, Council
      members shall serve for 5-year terms.
        (2) The terms of the five Members of the United States House of
      Representatives and the five Members of the United States Senate
      appointed during any term of Congress shall expire at the end of
      such term of Congress.
        (3) Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the
      expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed
      shall be appointed only for the remainder of such term. A member,
      other than a Member of Congress appointed by the Speaker of the
      United States House of Representatives or the President pro
      tempore of the United States Senate, may serve after the
      expiration of his term until his successor has taken office.

      (d) Chairperson and Vice Chairperson; Term of Office. - The
    Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Council shall be appointed
    by the President from among the members of the Council and such
    Chairperson and Vice Chairperson shall each serve for terms of 5
    years.
      (e) Reappointment. - Members whose terms expire may be
    reappointed, and the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson may be
    reappointed to those offices.
      (f) Bylaws. - The Council shall adopt bylaws to carry out its
    functions under this chapter. The Chairperson may waive a bylaw
    when the Chairperson decides that waiver is in the best interest of
    the Council. Immediately after waiving a bylaw, the Chairperson
    shall send written notice of the waiver to every voting member of
    the Council. The waiver becomes final 30 days after the notice is
    sent unless a majority of Council members disagree in writing
    before the end of the 30-day period.
      (g) Quorum. - One-third of the members of the Council shall
    constitute a quorum, and any vacancy in the Council shall not
    affect its powers to function.
      (h) Associated Committees. - Subject to appointment by the
    Chairperson, an individual who is not a member of the Council may
    be designated as a member of a committee associated with the
    Council. Such an individual shall serve without cost to the Federal
    Government.

-- 
Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners
(202) 333-1880
[email-masked]