[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 42 (Monday, April 18, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                           ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______


                          HON. JAMES T. WALSH

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 18, 1994

  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, central New York is a place of diverse 
cultures, very much a cross-section of America in the late 20th 
century. Our Nation is stronger because of immigrants who have come 
searching for freedom. Among those groups are Armenian Americans, who 
have thrived in my hometown and have laid groundwork for their 
children's future. Sadly, as we salute their hard work and faith, we 
must mention in the same breath the very reason most Armenians came to 
America. Because today, as we do each April, we force ourselves to 
remember the Armenian genocide, a holocaust victimizing not only the 
1.5 million people massacred by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, but those 
who were forced to abandon their ancient homeland.
  The details of the inhumanity are repulsive to us who live side-by-
side with children and grandchildren of the survivors. We remember, 
easily in some cases, the prejudice has taken many forms against many 
groups of immigrants. But in few cases has the horror of intense hatred 
in the homeland reached a level of viciousness that it bears the name 
of genocide. This has been true of the Armenian people.
  I sympathize today with the descendants of those who died, and those 
who came to America. I condemn the acts, past and present, which are 
carried out against a people in the name of nationalism or any other 
cause. And I thank God with my Armenian American friends today that 
they have brought their culture to our great Nation. Their children 
will carry forward their customs, their pride, their spirit into the 
ages, and all our children are better for knowing this.
  I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting Armenian Americans on 
this day, and in condemning the aggression of genocide against their 
ancestors.

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