[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  Mr. BIDEN. Madam President, this month we mark the Armenian 
genocide--the horrible atrocities committed against the Armenian people 
in the early part of this century. We memorialize the tragic events 
that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians--the 
victims of the Ottoman Empire's brutal and systematic massacre which 
lasted from 1915 to 1923.
  In April 1915, mass executions and deportations of leading Armenians 
began what was to become an almost 10-year onslaught. Families were 
forced to leave their homes and belongings and flee, on foot, to Syria. 
The very old and the very young were often starved to death, women were 
raped, children were hanged, and priests were beheaded. All this, the 
Ottoman Government claimed, was a defense tactic. Let us state it 
simply: The Armenian people were victims of a ruthless and oppressive 
government embarked on a campaign of murder.
  There are elderly survivors of the genocide which took place in 
Armenia 70 years ago who still bear the emotional scars of those 
events, as do their descendants. Armenians throughout the world 
maintain the cultural traditions of their ancestors and honor the 
memory of those who died. We, as a nation, must honor these brave 
people by heeding the memory of their persecution so that their deaths 
need not be in vain.
  An Armenian survivor from my home State of Delaware, Yeranouhi 
Najarian, said that ``with her first view of Ellis Island came the 
first true feeling of safety from the tragedies in the Ottoman 
Empire.'' She went on to say, ``When I saw the Statue of Liberty * * * 
I said, `this is a free country.''' Let those words give us courage to 
protect and maintain a society in which such ideals can flourish, as 
was intended by America's Founders. Mrs. Najarian also stated that, 
``for every Armenian who lived, there was a good Turk who protected 
him.'' Let the world take note--in every instance of brutality, there 
are those who protect and value human life.

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