[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 24, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S4087]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

 Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I rise to call my colleagues' 
attention to the solemn anniversary of the Armenian genocide. In 1915, 
the Ottoman Turkish Government launched an extermination campaign 
against all Armenians on its territory. The result of that gruesome 
policy was the death of about 1.5 million people, the destruction of a 
once flourishing community, and the scattering of the survivors around 
the globe.
  Many Armenians came to America, where they have rebuilt their 
communities, prospered and become a vital part of the American body 
politic. They have nurtured our democracy, while maintaining their 
traditions and always remembering the circumstances that forced them 
from their homeland. Meanwhile, their brothers and sisters in Armenia 
endured communism and Joseph Stalin, but despite the different fates of 
these two communities, they remained stubbornly and proudly Armenian, 
even when contact between them was difficult.
  In 1991, Armenia became an independent country and has worked hard to 
consolidate its independence since then. Today Armenia is a respected 
member of the international community, its progress toward 
democratization and economic well-being promoted by the worldwide 
Armenian Diaspora and by supportive governments, especially the United 
States.
  Independence confers freedom, but not necessarily freedom from 
hardship. Apart from the devastating December 1988 earthquake, Armenia 
has also endured the consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and 
the adversities caused by blockades imposed by neighboring Azerbaijan 
and Turkey. Happily, the Nagorno-Karabakh cease-fire has held since May 
1994, offering grounds to hope that the conflict will be peacefully 
resolved in the foreseeable future. All the parties to this dispute 
must pursue its peaceful resolution through the OSCE process, and with 
active American involvement, bring about a lasting, stable peace.
  In the spirit of reconciliation and looking ahead to Armenia's 
future, President Ter-Petrossyan said in Washington last year that 
``Armenia has no enemies.'' All of us who are friends of Armenia are 
working for precisely that future, for an Armenia without enemies, 
while remembering the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
  Mr. President, in light of the fact that, for the first time since 
World War II, there are international tribunals investigating two 
current genocides, one in Bosnia and one in Rwanda, it is very 
important that all of us remember the first genocide of the 20th 
century, and dedicate ourselves to the proposition that there will be 
no new genocides in the future.

                          ____________________