[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 51 (Friday, April 19, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 FOR SURVIVORS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______


                       HON. GEORGE P. RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 18, 1996

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, between 1915 and 1923 the Ottoman 
Turkish Empire committed a terrible genocide against Armenians. In a 
systematic and deliberate campaign to eliminate the Armenian people and 
erase their culture and history of 3,000 years the Turks committed this 
atrocity. As a result, over one-half million Armenians were massacred. 
The Armenian genocide is a historical fact, and has been recognized by 
academicians and historians all over the world. The documentary 
evidence is irrefutable and beyond question. Unfortunately, the Turkish 
Government is still persisting in their denial that the genocide took 
place.
  Many survivors of the genocide have made the United States their new 
home. On April 24, 1996 Armenians all over the world will commemorate 
the 81st anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Commemoration activities 
will occur in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and in my district in 
Fresno, California. I have the honor of representing thousands of 
Armenians in California's 19th Congressional District, and I send my 
sincerest condolences on this solemn occasion to all members of the 
Armenian community. As a member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian 
Issues, I intend to join my colleagues, Representatives John Porter and 
Frank Pallone in a special order on April 24, 1996 on the floor of the 
House of Representatives to commemorate the genocide victims.
  I am an original cosponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 47 which 
calls on Congress to officially recognize the Armenian genocide and 
encourages the Republic of Turkey to do the same. This legislation 
would call on the Government of Turkey to turn away from its denials of 
the Armenian genocide, and instead, to openly acknowledge this tragic 
chapter in its history. By doing so, the Turkish Government can help to 
raise the level of trust in a strategic, yet highly unstable, region of 
the world and facilitate the normalization of relations between Turkey 
and Armenia. I encourage my colleagues to vote for the passage of H. 
Con. Res. 47.
  Remembering this genocide against the Armenians will help ensure that 
this type of tragedy is never allowed to occur again.

                          ____________________