Governor Urged to OK Holocaust Panel

Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) and representatives of Jewish organizations urged Gov. George Deukmejian on Thursday to sign a bill that would create a state commission to commemorate the Holocaust.

“It’s not simply to look back to the past but to educate for the future,” Hayden said. “It’s a negligible investment of money but a very important investment for the state government to be involved in this vital work.”

Tom Beermann, a spokesman for Deukmejian, said the Holocaust bill is “one of approximately 1,200 bills that the governor is required to act on by Oct. 2. so he has not had an opportunity to review that specific piece of legislation. I don’t have any indication one way or the other which way he will go with that one.”