U.S. President Joe Biden announced his intent on May 17 to appoint 10 people to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
Among the nominees are American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch; Rabbi Michael Beals (whom the president calls “my rabbi”) of Congregation Beth Shalom, a Conservative synagogue in Wilmington, Del.; and Alan D. Solomont, a former U.S. ambassador to Spain.
The council, which Congress established in 1980 to raise funding for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, has become the governing board of the museum since the latter opened in 1993.
The other nominees are business leaders Kevin Abel, Danielle Borrin Hertz, Jonathan Lavine and Harry Evans Sloan; attorneys Kimberly Marteau Emerson and Alexander Heckler; and historian Gary Phillip Zola.
“The museum does an incredible job of telling one of the most difficult and tragic of stories. But it’s one we all must hear. I look forward to working with other members of the council to ensure the museum has the resources it needs to further its vital mission,” Deutch stated in a news release.