RJC Celebrates Historic Signing of Top Legislative Priority, the HEAR Act, by President Donald J. Trump

Washington, DC (April 13, 2026) - The Republican Jewish Coalition released the following statement after President Donald J. Trump signed the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act into law:

RJC CEO Matt Brooks said:

It is deeply meaningful that on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, President Trump signed the HEAR ACT-landmark legislation to extend and improve the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016-into law. The HEAR Act empowers family members, who have fought for decades, to recover artwork stolen from Jews by the Nazi regime during the Second World War.

President Trump has consistently proven to be the best friend of the Jewish people ever to occupy the Oval Office, and his signature today ratifies the truth: the passage of time can never diminish the injustice of crimes committed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust.  

Passage of the HEAR Act was a top legislative priority for the RJC in this 119th Congress, and we are grateful to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives for the bipartisan support for this law. We are grateful in particular to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) who led the way on the original Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act and spearheaded the push to make sure the law was not just reauthorized but improved, and to Congresswoman Laurel Lee (R-FL15) who championed the HEAR Act in the House. And we are grateful to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for a powerful statement affirming the bill as a fulfillment of American leaders' obligation to preserve historic memory and pursue justice for Holocaust victims. 

Joel Greenberg, President of Art Ashes, which was instrumental in leading the effort to secure passage of the HEAR Act of 2026, said: "Holocaust crimes can never be forgotten; and, with its passage, will not be erased by time. We are grateful for the bipartisan legislative process, including the White House, that has ensured a fair and just path to restitution for Holocaust survivors and their families."

BACKGROUND on the HEAR Act:

The HEAR Act extends and strengthens a landmark 2016 law that helps Holocaust victims and their heirs recover art looted by the Nazis and their collaborators. The HEAR Act strengthens victims' rights to have their cases heard on the merits. Specifically, it prevents those in possession of looted art from evading justice through concealment and legal defenses based on the passage of time - practices that are all-too-common in the art world. It also blocks defenses based on deference to the laws of other countries, or for other technical reasons. The passage of the HEAR Act affirms a simple truth: there is no excuse for unjustly withholding the Nazi-stolen property of Jews murdered in the Holocaust from their heirs.