Earlier in the day, Obama visited Capitol Hill for an annual ceremony marking the Nazi Holocaust.

President Obama: “We have the opportunity to make a habit of empathy, to recognize ourselves in each other, to commit ourselves to resisting injustice and intolerance and indifference in whatever forms they may take, whether confronting those who tell lies about history or doing everything we can to prevent and end atrocities like those that took place in Rwanda, those taking place in Darfur. That is my commitment as president. I hope that is yours as well.”

Other speakers at the event were accused of exploiting the Nazi Holocaust to urge the US to attack Iran. Israeli Ambassador Sallai Merridor appeared to compare Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler, saying, “Honoring the dead must not be the sole purpose of remembrance…When a regime is again…terrorizing its neighbors, threatening to destroy the Jewish people, how will we meet this challenge before it’s too late?” The Israeli government and its supporters have accused Ahmadinejad of inciting genocide over a mistranslated 2005 speech.