BILL REQ. #:  S-4469.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/05/04.   

     TO THE CHAIR OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF HOLOCAUST ERA INSURANCE CLAIMS (ICHEIC), AND TO THE ICHEIC MEMBER INSURANCE COMPANIES: ALLIANZ AG, AXA, ASSICURAZIONI GENERALI S.P.A., WINTERTHUR SWISS INSURANCE COMPANY, AND ZURICH FINANCIAL SERVICES, AND TO THE WASHINGTON STATE INSURANCE COMMISSIONER:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, The Holocaust was a tragedy of proportions the world has never before witnessed; and
     WHEREAS, More than sixty years have passed since the tragic events we call the Holocaust transpired in which Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews as a part of a systematic program of genocide known as "the Final Solution"; and
     WHEREAS, There are as many as one hundred seventy-four thousand Holocaust survivors in the United States, many of whom are elderly and infirm; and
     WHEREAS, Recent studies have reported an alarming incidence of poverty among elderly survivors in the United States and confirmed that many survivors lack basic needs including food, shelter, medical care, prescription medication, and a satisfactory quality of life; and
     WHEREAS, The National Association of Jewish Family and Children's Agencies has estimated that an additional thirty million dollars per year is needed to help survivors in the United States who are not receiving assistance; and
     WHEREAS, There are an estimated 200 Holocaust survivors living in Washington state, with an average age of seventy-eight years; and
     WHEREAS, A recent survey conducted jointly by the Jewish Family Service of Seattle and the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner's Holocaust Survivors Assistance Office found that aging survivors will require extensive home care and other social services in the near future; and
     WHEREAS, A historic settlement was signed with Swiss banks in 1999 providing for one billion two hundred fifty million dollars in payments to victims of the Holocaust; and
     WHEREAS, The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York oversees the Swiss settlement and is considering the reallocation of up to six hundred million dollars in unclaimed settlement funds to be used for humanitarian purposes benefiting needy Holocaust survivors around the world; and
     WHEREAS, The International Commission of 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, As a result of an agreement between the ICHEIC, the Federal Republic of Germany, and other parties, a Humanitarian Fund of one hundred sixty-five million dollars has been created to assist needy Holocaust survivors; and
     WHEREAS, The ICHEIC Humanitarian Fund has, to date, distributed two million four hundred thousand dollars for the benefit of survivors in the United States, including twelve thousand dollars in the state of Washington; and
     WHEREAS, The Washington State Insurance Commissioner holds a seat on the International Holocaust Task Force of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC); and
     WHEREAS, The NAIC supports fair allocation of humanitarian funds;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that, in as much as there continue to be Holocaust survivors living anywhere in the world who lack basic needs, including food, shelter, and medical care and other things essential to allow them to live out the remainder of their lives in basic dignity, any and all humanitarian or other discretionary funds obtained for, or on behalf of, Holocaust survivors be promptly disbursed in order to meet the current and anticipated basic needs of the survivors; and
     Your Memorialists further pray that the funds be disbursed to the numbers of Holocaust survivors in order to meet the basic needs in fair proportion to their numbers worldwide based on accurate population data, with full and transparent accounting for the use of funds disbursed; and
     Your Memorialists further pray that the Washington State Insurance Commissioner utilize his position on the NAIC International Holocaust Commission Task Force to further the intent of this Memorial.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Chair of the ICHEIC, the ICHEIC member insurance companies: Allianz AG, AXA, Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A., Winterthur Swiss Insurance Company, and Zurich Financial Services, and the Washington State Insurance Commissioner.