It’s one less instrument of leverage.

This legislation would deprive the U.S. of a source of leverage, such as was used to gain the release of our citizens held hostage in Iran,

It’s better to take a little more time and do it right,

We must be frank. It was American lawyers and the lawsuits they brought in U.S. courts who placed the long-forgotten wrongs by German companies during the Nazi era on the international agenda.

What they want is a substantial degree of comfort, … We’re working on trying to provide a necessary degree of comfort.

This agreement does not end moral responsibility for the Holocaust. Nothing can erase the memory of those who died or the culture and potential achievements lost or the suffering of those who survived.

In many cases well past the point where, from the Allied perspective at the time, there was a genuine threat of German attack,

From now on, the sale, purchase, exchange and display of art from this period will be addressed with greater sensitivity and a higher international standard of responsibility,

We leveraged our relationship with private banks and reached out to Internet service providers to create a low-cost Web site that will enable users to register once and subsequently transact with the government,

The cumulative trade of the World War II European neutral countries helped to sustain the Nazi war effort by supplying key materials to Germany essential to their conduct of the war,

While most countries in the region recognize their obligation to return confiscated property, there remains in some countries a lukewarm commitment to completing quickly the work at hand,

This was an effort in progress for months before the Bank of New York hit the news, … This is a much broader issue than Russia.

They want all cases dismissed — state and federal cases — and that will take time,

Having an expansion of the 9/11 fund or something very similar is precisely what ought to be done, … Create an administrative remedy, allow a quick payment.

There is great concern because the survivors are passing away at a rate of 1 percent a month and we all feel a sense of urgency,

This is a major achievement which will reverberate through our museums, galleries, auction houses and in the homes and hearts of those families who may now have the chance to have returned what is rightfully...

has the potential to rank … as a landmark event.

We are closer to an agreement than we were before and both sides have shown flexibility, … critical stage.

Having the return of these properties is tremendously important … in reviving religious life in countries where religion was either formally or informally prohibited as a matter of practice during the Communist era,

It would create a winner-take-all race to the courthouse,

As painful as it may sometimes be, we must not sweep these issues under the rug of embarrassment, silence and indifference,

The art world will never be the same in the way it deals with Nazi-confiscated art.

America’s response to the early stages of the slaughter of European Jews was largely one of indifference,

Swiss banks have taken a number of steps to redress past mistakes and provide assistance to Holocaust survivors.

It appears that in practice, the value-added taxes applied to electronically delivered books and newspapers may be higher than those applied to sales of the same physical books and newspapers,

I don’t engage in double talk,

The Russia delegation, in effect, opened a new chapter in restitution. I am confident that some of the greatest collections in the world will be returned to their rightful owners and a vast storehouse of...