[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 24, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S4088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues in 
commemorating the 81 years since the tragedy of the Armenian genocide 
unfolded. Today we pause to remember the victims of this great tragedy 
and to pay our respects to the survivors.
  Indeed it is important that we take this occasion to educate 
ourselves about the events that constituted the Armenian genocide, and 
to resolve never to remain indifferent in the face of such assaults on 
humanity. Respect for the memories of the Armenians who were martyred 
in this great tragedy demands that humanity never forget this day. It 
also represents an opportunity for people of goodwill to honestly 
confront the past and move to genuine reconciliation.
  We are also pleased that after centuries of oppression, the Armenian 
people are again now free and independent. The Republic of Armenia is 
proof that the Armenian spirit is alive and vibrant and, despite 
enormous outside pressures, is making progress and flourishing. As 
Armenia struggles to reenter the society of nations, it is instructive 
for us to recognize the sacrifices of the victims of the genocide.
  The anniversary of this tragedy holds special meaning to Armenians 
everywhere and, in spite of a history of many hardships, difficulties 
and adversity faced by the Armenian people, the community has 
strengthened its resolve to survive and prosper. Armenian-Americans are 
one of the best examples of an indomitable human spirit. The 
contribution of the Armenian community to the cultural, social, 
economic, and political landscape of America is a source of great 
strength and vitality in our Nation. Americans of Armenian origin have 
kept alive, and not let tragedy shatter, the rich faith and traditions 
of Armenian civilization.
  As we recall the Armenian genocide, it is important to recognize that 
it was the culmination of an abhorrent pattern of persecution against 
the Armenian community living in the Ottoman Empire. During the period 
1894-1896, and again in 1909, tens of thousands of Armenians lost their 
lives. On April 24, 1915, 300 Armenian intellectuals, religious and 
political leaders, and professionals were rounded up by Ottoman 
authorities and taken to remote parts of Anatolia from where they never 
returned. At least 250,000 Armenians who loyally served in the Ottoman 
army were expelled and forced into labor battalions where executions 
and starvation were common. Men, women, and children were deported from 
their villages and obliged to march for weeks in the Syrian desert 
where a majority of them lost their lives.
  The unfortunate campaign against this community earlier in this 
century resulted in widespread deportations and death. More than 1.5 
million innocent men, women, and children, out of a total of 2.5 
million Armenians living within the Ottoman Empire, lost their lives. 
Entire families were destroyed, and thousands of survivors were 
scattered around the world. In fact, contemporaneous newspaper accounts 
in the United States describing these atrocities inspired Americans to 
contribute $113 million in humanitarian assistance from 1915 to 1930 to 
help the survivors. Americans eventually adopted 132,000 Armenian 
orphans into this country.
  One of the most prominent and reliable accounts of the Armenian 
genocide is provided by the distinguished United States ambassador to 
the Ottoman Empire at the time, Henry Morgenthau. In an article 
published in the Red Cross magazine in 1918, Morgenthau described the 
wide-scale and systematic attempts by the Ottomans to crush the 
Armenian community as, ``the Greatest Horror in History.'' Abram Elkus, 
Morgenthau's successor, also cabled the State Department that the Young 
Turks policy against the Armenians was an ``unchecked policy of 
extermination through starvation, exhaustion, and brutality of 
treatment hardly surpassed even in Turkish history.''
  Both the German and Austrian ambassadors, apprehensive about the 
attacks against the Armenians, conveyed their concerns directly to the 
Ottoman leadership. In July of 1915, Hans Von Wangenheim, the German 
Ambassador to the Ottomans, advised his own government to distance 
itself from the Ottoman leadership for what he viewed as a campaign to 
rid ``the Armenian race in the Turkish empire.''
  Extensive evidence, documentation, and first hand accounts have been 
collected over the years regarding this dark period, much of which is 
held in our own National Archives. In 1987, it was fitting that the 
Holocaust Council expressed its support for making the Armenian 
genocide part of the permanent exhibits at the United States Holocaust 
Memorial Museum. In its statement, the council declared that ``the fate 
of the Armenians should be included in any discussion of genocide in 
the twentieth century.''
  Several years ago, Elie Wiesel spoke at a Holocaust memorial service 
here in the Congress and expressed the importance of recognizing the 
Armenian genocide. He stated, ``Before the planning of the final 
solution, Hitler asked, ``Who remembers the Armenians?'' He was right. 
No one remembered them, as no one remembered the Jews. Rejected by 
everyone, they felt expelled from history.''
  Mr. President, we must never forget the moral lesson of the Armenian 
genocide and honor it by renewing our commitment to human rights and 
democratic principles.

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