Senator Charles Schumer. Photo: Screenshot.

Senate minority leader Charles Schumer hailed the passage of new legislation on Tuesday that will boost the restitution process for Holocaust survivors and their families.

The Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act, passed by the Senate hours before the start of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, requires the State Department to report on certain countries compliance with Holocaust-era assets. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, is a co-sponsor of the bill, which was introduced by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Marco Rubio (R-FL).

Schumer said that the act would “ultimately help in the restitution of Nazi-confiscated assets stolen during the Holocaust.”

“Passing this bill makes eminent sense and was the right thing to do, especially on this night because the memories of those who perished in the Holocaust will always shine brightly like Hanukkah candles,” the New York senator continued. “Now, I am calling on my colleagues in the House of Representatives to swiftly pass this legislation and provide Holocaust survivors and family members of the victims with some measure of justice.”

Tuesday’s passage of the JUST Act followed its approval on December 5 by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Following the committee’s decision, Rubio praised the bill for facilitating “long deserved restitution to survivors and their families whose property was stolen during the Holocaust.”