[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H3789-H3790]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      COMMEMORATING THE 81ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Torres] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank my colleagues, Mr. Pallone 
and Mr. Porter, for once again organizing this special congressional 
opportunity for Congress to pause to honor the memory of the 1\1/2\ 
million Armenians who were killed between 1915 and 1923 by agents of 
the Turkish Ottoman Empire in what is known in infamy as the Armenian 
Genocide.
  While we cautiously welcome the important gestures recently made by 
Turkey, in recognizing the independence of Armenia and the opening of 
an air corridor to Armenia, the history of the relationships between 
these two countries must be kept in perspective.
  Some would claim that our remembrance today fans the flames of 
atavistic hatred and that the issue of the Ottoman government's efforts 
to destroy the Armenian people is a matter best left to scholars and 
historians. I do not agree. For whatever ambiguities may be invoked in 
the historic record of these events, one fact remains undeniable: the 
death and suffering of Armenians on a massive scale happened, and is 
deserving of recognition and remembrance.
  This solemn occasion permits us to join in remembrance with the many 
Americans of Armenian ancestry, to remind this country of the tragic 
price paid by the Armenian community for its long pursuit of life, 
liberty and freedom.
  Today, I rise, with my Colleagues, to recall and remember one of the 
most tragic events in history and through this act of remembrance, to 
make public and vivid the memory of the ultimate price paid by the 
Armenian community by this blot against human civility.
  We come together each year with this act of commemoration, this year 
being the 81st anniversary of this genocide, to tell the stories of 
this atrocity so that we will not sink into ignorance of our capacity 
to taint human progress with acts of mass murder.
  The Armenian genocide was a deliberate act to kill, or deport, all 
Armenians from Asia Minor, and takes its place in history with other 
acts of genocide such as Stalin's destruction of the Kulaks, Hitler's 
calculated wrath on the Jews, Poles, and Romany Gypsy community in 
Central Europe, and Pol Pot's attempt to purge incorrect political 
thought from Cambodia by killing all of his people over the age of 
fifteen, and more recently, the ethnic cleansing atrocities in Bosnia.
  We do not have the ability to go back and correct acts of a previous 
time, or to right the wrongs of the past. If we had this capacity, 
perhaps we could have prevented the murders of millions of men, women 
and children.
  We can, however, do everything in our power to prevent such 
atrocities from occurring again. To do this, we must educate people 
about these horrible incidents, comfort the survivors and keep alive 
the memories of those who died.
  I encourage everyone to use this moment to think about the tragedy 
which was the Armenian Genocide, to contemplate the massive loss of 
lives, and to ponder the loss of the human contributions which might 
have been.
  Although, the massacre we depict and describe started 81 years ago, 
the Armenian people continue to fight for their freedom and 
independence today, in the Nagorno Karabagh.
  Again, this year, I would like to close my remarks with an urgent 
plea that we use this moment as an occasion to recommit ourselves to 
the spirit of human understanding, compassion, patience, and love.
  For these alone are the tools for overcoming our tragic, and uniquely 
human proclivity for resolving differences and conflicts by acts of 
violence.
  This century has been characterized as one of the bloodiest in our 
archives of human history. Certainly, the genocide perpetuated against 
the Armenian peoples has been a factor in this dismal record.
  The dawning of a new century offers our human race two paths. One 
continues along a road of destruction, distrust, and despair. Those who 
travel this path have lost their connection to the primal directives, 
which permit us as a society to maintain balance, continuity, and 
harmony.
  I would ask my colleagues, on this 81th anniversary of one of 
history's bloodiest massacres of human beings--and during a time in 
history when violent solutions to problems between peoples continue to 
hold sway--to contemplate the second path. The map to this path exists 
within the guiding teachings of all major world religions and are 
encapsulated in what Christians refer to as the 10 Commandments. I 
would ask my colleagues, no matter their religious or political 
persuasions and beliefs, to revisit these core teachings which form a 
common bond between all peoples. To use these common beliefs as the 
basis for action and understanding in these trying times. The surface 
differences between peoples, offer only an exciting diversity in form. 
At the core all peoples are united by common dreams, aspirations, and 
beliefs in a desire for harmony, decency, and peace with justice.
  Let these testimonies of the atrocities perpetuated against the 
Armenian people serve as a reminder that as a human race we can, and 
must, do better. It takes strength and wisdom to understand that the 
sword of compassion is indeed mightier than the sword of steel.
  Certainly, as we reflect over the conflicts of this century, we can 
only come to the conclusion that violence begets violence, hatred 
begets hatred and that only understanding patience, compassion, and 
love can open the door to the realization of the dreams which we all 
hold for our children and for their children.
  Let our statements today, remembering and openly condemning the 
atrocity committed against the Armenians,

[[Page H3790]]

help renew a commitment of the American people to oppose any and all 
instances of genocide.

                          ____________________