[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 66 (Monday, April 24, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S5566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  Mr. BRADLEY. Mr. President, today marks the 80th anniversary of the 
Armenian genocide, the first great crime of the 20th century. Over 1\1/
2\ million Armenians were murdered by the Ottoman Empire and its 
successor between 1915 and 1923. Many in this country and throughout 
the world still mourn the relatives they lost in the Armenian genocide. 
It is important that we take a moment to remember this terrible crime 
against humanity.
  The 20th century has been not only a century of mass murder, but also 
a century of culpability in which the nations of the world have failed 
to act to prevent or halt genocide. The slaughter of Armenians was 
ignored. The international community was too slow to act when the Nazis 
began killing Jews and Gypsies. Our response to the ethnic cleansing in 
Bosnia and Rwanda has been feeble.
  However, on this day, we not only mourn the losses sustained by 
Armenia, we also celebrate the contributions of Armenians to our 
civilization and culture, such as fellow New Jerseyans Christopher 
Babigian, a prominent physician and community leader, Krikor Zadourian, 
a leading businessman and community leader, and Haigaz Grigorian, a 
community leader active in relief work in Armenia, to name a few. 
Indeed, the American-Armenian community has done much to enrich New 
Jersey and the United States.
  Armenia itself, Mr. President, has now reemerged as an independent 
state in which Armenians can control their own destiny for the first 
time in centuries. Tragically, though, Armenia is a country which has 
thus far been forced to devote its resources to war rather than to 
building a peaceful, prosperous, life for its people.
  It is our responsibility to educate future generations about the 
dangers of intolerance and to fulfill the pledge of ``never again.'' 
Remembering the horrors of 1915-23 is one way of rousing ourselves to 
give meaning to this pledge.


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