[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 410 Reported in Senate (RS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 364
113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 410

  Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the anniversary of the 
                           Armenian Genocide.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 3, 2014

 Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Markey, Mrs. 
 Boxer, Mr. Reed, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Reid) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

                             April 11, 2014

    Reported by Mr. Menendez, with amendments and amendments to the 
                                preamble
  [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the anniversary of the 
                           Armenian Genocide.

<DELETED>Whereas the Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the 
        Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of nearly 
        2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were 
        killed and 500,000 survivors were expelled from their homes, and the 
        elimination of the over 2,500-year presence of Armenians in their 
        historic homeland;
</DELETED>Whereas the Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the 
        Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915, resulting in the deportation of nearly 
        2,000,000 Armenians, as many as 1,500,000 men, women, and children being 
        killed, 500,000 survivors being expelled from their homes, and the 
        elimination of the over 2,500-year presence of Armenians in their 
        historic homeland;
Whereas, on May 24, 1915, the Allied Powers of England, France, and Russia 
        jointly issued a statement explicitly charging for the first time ever 
        another government of committing crimes ``against humanity and 
        civilization'';
Whereas Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term ``genocide'', and whose draft 
        resolution for a genocide convention treaty became the framework for the 
        United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime 
        of Genocide, recognized the Armenian Genocide as the type of crime the 
        United Nations should prevent and punish through the setting of 
        international standards;
Whereas Senate Concurrent Resolution 12, 64th Congress, agreed to February 9, 
        1916, resolved that ``the President of the United States be respectfully 
        asked to designate a day on which the citizens of this country may give 
        expression to their sympathy by contributing funds now being raised for 
        the relief of the Armenians'', who at the time were enduring 
        ``starvation, disease, and untold suffering'';
Whereas Senate Resolution 359, 66th Congress, agreed to May 11, 1920, stated 
        that ``the testimony adduced at the hearings conducted by the 
        subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations have clearly 
        established the truth of the reported massacres and other atrocities 
        from which the Armenian people have suffered'';
Whereas House Joint Resolution 148, 94th Congress, agreed to April 8, 1975, 
        resolved, ``That April 24, 1975, is hereby designated as `National Day 
        of Remembrance of Man's Inhumanity to Man', and the President of the 
        United States is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation 
        calling upon the people of the United States to observe such day as a 
        day of remembrance for all the victims of genocide, especially those of 
        Armenian ancestry . . .'';
Whereas House Joint Resolution 247, 98th Congress, agreed to September 10, 1984, 
        resolved, ``That April 24, 1985, is hereby designated as `National Day 
        of Remembrance of Man's Inhumanity to Man', and the President of the 
        United States is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation 
        calling upon the people of the United States to observe such day as a 
        day of remembrance for all the victims of genocide, especially the one 
        and one-half million people of Armenian ancestry . . .'';
Whereas the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, an independent Federal 
        agency, unanimously resolved on April 30, 1981, that the United States 
        Holocaust Memorial Museum would document the Armenian Genocide in the 
        Museum, and has done so through a public examination of the historic 
        record, including lectures and the maintenance of books, records, and 
        photographs about the Genocide; and
<DELETED>Whereas the Government of the Republic of Turkey has continued its 
        international campaign of Armenian Genocide denial, maintained a 
        blockade of Armenia, and continues to pressure the small but growing 
        Turkish civil society movement for acknowledging the Armenian Genocide;
Whereas, in April 2011, the month of remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, the 
        Government of the Republic of Turkey demolished a 100-foot-high statue 
        in the city of Kars which was erected to promote reconciliation with 
        Armenia;
Whereas the denial of the Armenian Genocide by the Government of the Republic of 
        Turkey has prevented the meaningful advancement of a constructive 
        political, economic, and security relationship between Armenia and 
        Turkey; and
</DELETED>Whereas the teaching, recognition, and commemoration of acts of 
        genocide and other crimes against humanity is essential to preventing 
        the re-occurrence of similar atrocities: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate--
            (1) to remember and observe the anniversary of the Armenian 
        Genocide on April 24, 2014; and
        <DELETED>    (2) that the President should work toward an 
        equitable, constructive, stable, and durable Armenian-Turkish 
        relationship that includes the full acknowledgment by the 
        Government of the Republic of Turkey of the facts about the 
        Armenian Genocide; and</DELETED>
            (3)</DELETED> (2) that the President should ensure that the 
        foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate 
        understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to 
        human rights, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and 
        genocide documented in the United States record relating to the 
        Armenian Genocide.




                                                       Calendar No. 364

113th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                              S. RES. 410

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

  Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the anniversary of the 
                           Armenian Genocide.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             April 11, 2014

        Reported with amendments and amendments to the preamble