so i personally had to go on a journey portraying maria altmann, and the journey, i'm a child of the second world war. i was born in 1945 and then at the second world war was very much a part of my history. but i never really truly confronted the absolute reality of what had happened in those days and employing maria altmann i had to put her memories into my mind. entity that i had to read a lot of research material and really relive those moments. and that is why honestly i'm here now. it was that journey of playing maria that made absolute reality of those days so relevant to me today at this moment in time. it's a terribly sad fact that more than 70 years later, victims of the holocaust and their families are still contemplating whether to seek restitution for what was stolen from them and lost under the most horrible of circumstances. but a lack of transparency, a lack of access to information concerning the location of stolen art, and a lack of legal assurances at least they can have their say in court. this discourages them from taking action. so when considering this issue it'

and i think that was what was so extraordinary specifically about maria altmann's world, the world that i had read about in history books, this glorious time in vienna that was so full of culture and art and being in vienna and shooting the film and seeing those beautiful houses that were built by the jewish community, i realized, it was a jewish culture. it was -- this beautiful memory of vienna and the music and the painting was actually created by the jewish people. so you know, to try and take that away from them it just is was just so unutterbly cruel and unfair. and naerks i guess that's what i'm saying. is that our memory as a people on planet is created by our artistic contribution. >> i agree. thank you. >> mr. chairman, could i ask one more question? >> absolutely. >> thank you. >> you miss peresztegi, am i pronouncing that right? i hope so. >> one concern that might be raised about this bill is its impact on the system of federalism because many of these claims would be brought under state law in state court. now, senator lee did raise this to a degree. i want to understand w

and i think that was what was so extraordinary specifically about maria altmann's viennese world, the world that i had read about in history books, this glorious time in vienna that was so full of culture and art and being in vienna and shooting the film and seeing those beautiful houses that were built by the jewish community, i realized, it was a jewish culture. it was -- this beautiful memory of vienna and the music and the painting was actually created by the jewish people. so you know, to try and take that away from them it just is was just so unutterbly cruel and unfair. and i guess that's what i'm saying. is that our memory as a people on planet is created by our artistic contribution. >> i agree. thank you. >> mr. chairman, could i ask one more question? >> absolutely. >> thank you. >> you miss peresztegi, am i pronouncing that right? i hope so. >> one concern that might be raised about this bill is its impact on the system of federalism because many of these claims would be brought under state law in state court. now, senator lee did raise this to a degree. i want to understa