[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 24, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S4060]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to the victims of the 
Armenian genocide, the first such crime against a people in the 20th 
century.
  On April 24, 1915, 81 years ago today, the Ottoman Turkish Empire 
began the systematic rounding up and slaughter of Armenian 
intellectuals, clergy, businessmen, and other leaders of the community. 
Ultimately the horror claimed 1\1/2\ million lives and resulted in the 
exile of Armenians from much of their historic homeland in Asia Minor.
  I like to think that some good can come from even the most horrifying 
evil. In this case a large segment of the Armenian diaspora, banished 
from its ancestral home, reached these shores. They and their 
descendents have immeasurably enriched the United States of America. In 
remembering the martyrdom of their fellow Armenians eight decades ago, 
we are also paying tribute to Armenian-Americans--to their patriotism, 
and to their many contributions to this land of freedom.
  Mr. President, unfortunately there are some who would trivialize the 
Armenian genocide or even attempt to deny that it ever took place, just 
as there remain a twisted few who continue to deny the Holocaust that 
claimed 6 million Jews.
  But, Mr. President, there is no denying the undeniable. The Armenians 
in the Ottoman Empire were not murdered because they were talented 
businessmen. They were not butchered because their community produced 
outstanding intellectuals. They were not slaughtered for any 
socioeconomic reason, however perverted. No, the Armenians were 
murdered because they were Armenians. This Mr. President, was genocide.
  Unfortunately, genocide is a recurring fact of the 20th century. 
Fifteen years after the Armenian genocide occurred, Stalin began his 
insane collectivization that decimated the Ukrainian people.
  I have already mentioned the Nazis' extermination of 6 million Jews 
in the Holocaust.
  The 1970's witnessed Cambodia's killing fields where a significant 
proportion of the Khmer people perished.
  The 1990's have seen the mass murder of Tutsis in Rwanda and the 
unspeakable horrors perpetrated upon Bosnian Muslims, cynically given 
the euphemism, ethnic cleansing.
  Mr. President, we must endeavor to ensure that these vile deeds are 
never repeated yet another time. The first step in that process is to 
ensure that the memory of genocide is kept alive so that the truth will 
prevail over the purveyors of historical lies. The Holocaust memorial 
Museum here in Washington is serving a vital function in that regard.
  Similarly, the proposed Armenian Genocide Memorial Museum of America 
promises to be an important vehicle for preserving and disseminating 
the truth.
  On this solemn day of remembrance, I join millions of other Americans 
in commemorating the martyrdom of the Armenians and praying that their 
eternal sacrifice shall not have been in vain.

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