,,iii  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session 
,s4 ,,res4 #egg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate    
,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states  ,july #ah1
 #bjah,mr4 ,toomey 7for himself1 ,mr4   
,blumenthal1 ,mr4 ,schumer1 and ,mr4    
,rubio7 submitted the following         
resolution2 which was referred to the   
,committee on ,foreign ,relations       
,,resolution  ,strongly recommending    
that the ,united ,states renegotiate the
 return of the ,iraqi ,jewish ,archive  
to ,iraq4  ,whereas1 before the         
mid-#bjth century1 ,baghdad had been a  
center of ,jewish life1 culture1 and    
scholarship1 dating back to #gba ,b4,c42
 ,whereas1 as recently as #aidj1 ,jews  
made up #be percent of ,baghdad's       
population2 ,whereas1 in the #aicjs and 
#aidjs1 under the leadership of ,rasheed
 ,ali1 anti-,jewish discrimination      
increased drastically1 including the    
,june #a-b1 #aida1 ,farhud pogrom1 in   
which nearly #ahj ,jews were killed2    
,whereas1 in #aidh1 ,zionism was added  
to the ,iraqi criminal code as          

punishable by death2 ,whereas1          
throughout #aiej-aiec1 ,jews were       
allowed to leave ,iraq under the        
condition that they renounce their      
citizenship2 ,whereas1 as result of past
 persecution1 few ,jews remain in ,iraq 
today1 and many left their possessions  
and treasured artifacts behind2 ,whereas
 the ,ba'ath regime confiscated these   
artifacts1 later dubbed the ,iraqi      
,jewish ,archive1 from synagogues and   
communal organizations2 ,whereas1 on    
,may #f1 #bjjc1 members of the ,united  
,states ,armed ,forces discovered the   
,iraqi ,jewish ,archive1 which included 
#b1gjj books and tens of thousands of   
documents1 in the heavily damaged and   
flooded basement of the ,mukhabarat     
7secret police7 headquarters2 ,whereas1 
under great urgency and before adequate 
time could be dedicated to researching  
the history of the ,iraqi ,jewish       
,archive1 an agreement was signed       
between the ,national ,archives and     
,records ,administration and the        

,coalition ,provisional ,authority on   
,august #bj1 #bjjc1 stating that the    
,iraqi ,jewish ,archive would be sent to
 the ,united ,states for restoration and
 then would be sent back to ,iraq after 
completion2 ,whereas the ,iraqi ,jewish 
community is the constituency of the    
,archive and is now represented by the  
diaspora outside ,iraq2 ,whereas the    
current ,government of ,iraq has        
publicly acknowledged the importance of 
the ,archive and demonstrated a shared  
respect for the wishes of the ,iraqi    
,jewish diaspora by attending the       
,december #bjac burial of several ,torah
 fragments from the ,archive in ,new    
,york2 ,whereas ,united ,states         
taxpayers invested #c1jjj1jjj to restore
 the ,iraqi ,jewish ,archive1 and the   
,national ,archives and ,records        
,administration has worked diligently to
 preserve the artifacts2 ,whereas the   
,national ,archives and ,records        
,administration has1 from #bjac to      
#bjah1 displayed the ,iraqi ,jewish     

,archive in-- 7#a7 ,washington1 ,,dc2   
7#b7 ,new ,york1 ,new ,york2  7#c7      
,kansas ,city1 ,missouri2  7#d7 ,yorba  
,linda1 ,california2  7#e7 ,miami       
,beach1 ,florida2  7#f7 ,dallas1 ,texas2
  7#g7 ,atlanta1 ,georgia2 and  7#h7    
,baltimore1 ,maryland2 ,whereas the     
exhibition of the ,iraqi ,jewish        
,archive across the ,united ,states and 
its cataloguing online has enabled      
people throughout the world and         
especially the ,iraqi ,jewish community 
diaspora to discover1 learn about1 and  
reflect upon the rich history of the    
,jewish community in ,iraq2 ,whereas1 in
 ,february #bjad1 the ,united ,states   
,senate unanimously passed a resolution 
calling on the ,administration to extend
 the agreement to keep temporarily the  
,iraqi ,jewish ,archives in the ,united 
,states2 ,whereas the ,administration   
reached an agreement with the           
,government of ,iraq to keep the        
,archive in the ,united ,states until   
,september #bjah2 and ,whereas the      

,iraqi ,embassy to the ,united ,states  
has said that the ,iraqi ,jewish        
community1 like other communities in    
,iraq1 played a key role in building the
 country1 shared in its prosperity1 and 
also suffered exile and forced departure
 because of tyranny3 ,now1 therefore1 be
 it ,that the ,senate-- 7#a7 strongly   
urges the ,department of ,state to      
renegotiate with the ,government of     
,iraq the provisions of the current     
agreement that establish the date by    
which the artifacts of ,iraqi ,jewish   
,archive are meant to return to ,iraq in
 order to ensure that they are kept in a
 place where long-term preservation and 
care can be guaranteed2  7#b7 recognizes
 that the ,iraqi ,jewish ,archive should
 be housed in a location that is        
accessible to scholars and to ,iraqi    
,jews and their descendants who have a  
personal interest in it2  7#c7          
recognizes that the initial agreement   
between the ,national ,archives and     
,records ,administration and the        

,coalition ,provisional ,authority was  
signed before knowing the complete      
history of the ,iraqi ,jewish ,archive2 
7#d7 reaffirms the ,united ,states      
commitment to cultural property under   
international law2 and  7#e7 reaffirms  
the commitment of the ,united ,states to
 ensuring justice for victims of ethnic 
and religious persecution4