[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 136 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 136

 Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the 102nd anniversary of 
                         the Armenian Genocide.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 24, 2017

    Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Markey, and Mr. Udall) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the 102nd anniversary of 
                         the Armenian Genocide.

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;
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, on April 11, 2014, the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 
        reported favorably Senate Resolution 410, 113th Congress, expressing the 
        sense of the Senate regarding the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, 
        and calling on the President to ``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'';
Whereas, on April 12, 2015, Pope Francis described the atrocities perpetrated by 
        the Ottoman Turks against the Armenians as the first genocide of the 
        20th century;
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;
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, on April 22, 2016, on the occasion of Armenian Remembrance Day, 
        President Barack Obama referred to the events of April 1915 as ``the 
        first mass atrocity of the 20th Century'' and further called for ``a 
        full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts'';
Whereas the German Bundestag in June 2016, and Danish Parliament, in January 
        2017, passed Armenian Genocide resolutions, thereby joining a growing 
        list of legislatures from a wide number of countries who recognize the 
        Armenian Genocide as such;
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
Whereas the teaching, recognition, and commemoration of acts of genocide and 
        other crimes against humanity is essential to preventing the 
        reoccurrence of similar atrocities: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate--
            (1) to remember and commemorate the 102th anniversary of 
        the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2017;
            (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
            (3) 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.
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