[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H3797-H3798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  COMMEMORATING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in 
observing the anniversary of the Armenian genocide. I commend my 
colleagues, Mr. Pallone and Mr. Porter, who are leaders in this 
Congress on Armenian issues and thank them for organizing this special 
order to draw attention to the tragic slaughter of the Armenian people.
  On April 24, 1915, the Armenian people were subjected to a ruthless 
policy of deportation, property confiscation, slavery, and murder by 
the Ottoman Empire. This barbaric policy was unquestionably genocide. 
Over the 8 years between 1915 and 1923, 1.5 million Armenian men, 
women, and children were killed and more than 500,000 more had been 
forcibly removed from the country. The Ottoman Empire and subsequent 
Turkish regime engaged in a systematic campaign to destroy cultural and 
religious monuments, change the names of locations and places, and deny 
the very existence of the Armenian people in this region.
  At the time, the world recognized this crime against humanity and 
organized a worldwide humanitarian relief effort under the leadership 
of the United States. It is time for us again to call attention to this 
genocide.
  I have recently joined my colleagues, Mr. Pallone and Mr. Porter, in 
sending a letter to President Clinton urging him to reaffirm the 
Armenian genocide as a crime against humanity. In addition, I was 
pleased to work with a number of my colleagues in including the 
provisions of the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act in the 1996 foreign 
operations appropriations bill which has been signed into law.
  The Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act restricts United States aid to 
Turkey until the Turkish Government ceases its obstruction of United 
States humanitarian aid deliveries to Armenia. The foreign operations 
appropriations bill also provides funds to continue the United States 
program of humanitarian assistance to the Armenian people.
  The Armenian-American descendants of the Armenian exiles make a 
vibrant contribution to the life and energy of the San Francisco bay 
area. I join with them today in observing this anniversary of the 
Armenian genocide and in honoring the memory of their ancestors.
  I might add, Mr. Speaker, that as we remember these tragic events 
both of the Armenian genocide and of the Holocaust, we must remember 
that there are crimes against humanity that are being perpetrated 
today. The appropriate tribute to those who have given their lives in 
the past to these crimes against humanity is to make sure that these 
acts do not continue and that we must be ever vigilant and speak up 
against them.
  In the remainder of my time, Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a few 
moments to talk about the minimum wage. Mr. Speaker, I am sure that all 
of us in this Chamber or all of us who serve in this Chamber would 
agree that the actions that we take here should serve to build family, 
to reward work, and to value the American worker.
  That is why it is so hard to understand why the Republican leadership 
in the House is hesitating, indeed has said they probably will not 
bring up legislation to increase the minimum wage. To remind our 
colleagues, a person who works full-time at the minimum wage makes 
$8,840 a year. In a two-earner household where both parents work, they 
bring home a rip-roaring $17,000 a year. For a family of four, this is 
below

[[Page H3798]]

the poverty line and indeed below the line of dignity that we owe the 
American worker.
  I am disappointed that the Republican majority will not bring up an 
increase in the minimum wage, but I am further mystified by the 
Republican attempt to avoid raising the minimum wage by proposing 
something which they claim is an increase in the minimum wage combined 
with an expansion of the earned income tax credit. It is neither. It is 
simply an attempt to distract attention from the Republican failure to 
raise the wages of low-income families.
  The Republican proposal would cut the earned income tax credit. That 
means it would increase the tax, if there were a tax, which there is 
not, so it would serve to put fewer dollars in the pockets of the 
lowest income people in our country. It would create a three-tiered 
Federal payment for low-income workers.
  This is not only an insult to the American worker, but it is an 
insult to American business. We are saying to American businesses: We 
think you do not value the work that your workers do, so we are going 
to subsidize that work by having a government program to give you money 
to pay your workers, because obviously you do not value the 
contribution they make to your business.
  What is happening here? How could it be that the Republicans, who 
talk about reducing the size of government and to promote the free 
enterprise system, are talking about subsidizing the wages officially 
that are paid to workers?
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I want to once again call to our 
attention, and I am going to have this blown up for future 
presentation, how long does it take to make $8,840. The full-time 
minimum wage earner, 1 year. What a full-time minimum wage earner makes 
in 1 year, the average CEO of a large U.S. corporation makes in one 
half a day. How could this be fair? How could this be just? We salute 
their entrepreneurial spirit and their success, but we reject the 
injustice of it all.

                          ____________________