[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 55 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               REMEMBERING THE GENOCIDE OF THE ARMENIANS

                                 ______


                               speech of

                          HON. JOHN J. LaFALCE

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 24, 1996

  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, today is the day we have set aside to 
commemorate a painful time in world history--the 81st anniversary of 
the deaths of more than 1\1/2\ million Armenians. While the magnitude 
of the loss and the depth of the sorrow do not dim with time for the 
descendants of those who died, I join my colleagues in this observance 
today in the hope that a day of remembrance can bring a measure of 
healing.
  This is what good and caring people do the world over when a tragedy 
occurs--grieve, console, reminisce. The first anniversary of the 
Oklahoma City bombing was recently the occasion of such a day of 
thought and remembrance. The shocking jolt that the bombing last year 
wreaked on the security that Americans have long enjoyed in this 
country will never be forgotten and will join the all-too-long list of 
events that, through their sheer awfulness, forever alter a country or 
a people. Indeed, we are even now watching with empathy the victims of 
the war in Bosnia, who, even as they struggle to get their footing as 
they emerge from their national nightmare, learn of atrocities such as 
mass graves and, as incredible as it may be that this could be 
happening again, watch as individuals--so-called leaders--are being 
turned over to the appropriate authorities for serious war crimes.
  As much as this day of remembrance brings home the moral frailty and 
potential for cruelty, however, it is, more important, also proof that 
the majority of us firmly denounce the hateful actions of a few. For 
us, there is no political jargon, ancestral enmity, or religious fervor 
that could ever justify the deeds perpetrated in Armenia that we 
commemorate today, the slaughter that we revisited last week in 
Oklahoma, or any similar actions anyplace, anytime.
  As a member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, I affirm 
my strong support for a strong and vibrant relationship between Armenia 
and the United States. I will work to do my part to ensure that the 
legacy of future generations of Armenians is not marked by persecution, 
but rather by personal and national security, democracy, freedom, and 
prosperity.

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