[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 45 (Wednesday, April 22, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H2213-H2214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, as we have heard from some of our 
colleagues, we come again this year to the House floor to commemorate 
and pay tribute to the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian genocide. 
Some ask why 83 years later we continue this exercise. The answer in my 
mind is rather simple. By telling the history and evoking the names of 
the victims, we protect them and others who would willfully erase from 
history their lives and the tragic events which occurred between 1915 
and 1923.
  As with the Nazi Holocaust, the Irish Famine, and other atrocities, 
we have a responsibility to society to recount of the history of the 
Armenian genocide so that we do not forget its victims and so that we 
remember man's capacity to destroy others who differ in their opinions, 
their race, religion, or ethnicity.
  Genocide is the most egregious of crimes. It is not a crime of 
passion or revenge, but of hate.
  Since 1923, Turkey has denied the Armenian genocide, and there has 
been no justice, and no Nuremberg trials for the victims and the 
families of the Armenian genocide.
  To those who continue to resist the truth, I can only believe that 
they had chosen to ignore the hard evidence or to indulge, to their 
shame, by ignoring the facts. Like the Holocaust, denying the Armenian 
genocide cannot erase the tragedy, the lives that were lost, or 
compensate for driving people from their homeland.
  For the people of Armenia, the fight continues, particularly for 
those residing in Karabagh. I am hopeful that we will see the day when 
peace, stability, and prosperity are realized for the people of 
Karabagh, and for all Armenians.
  For my part, I am hopeful that, through our continued efforts in the 
Congress, we can improve the lives of the Armenian people, continue to 
speak out for the human rights observers that, in fact, we hope for 
that part of the world, and continue to speak out against the 
atrocities that are continued to be committed by the Turkish 
Government. Certainly, we will continue to remember those who lost 
their lives and continue to commemorate this somber occasion.
  Ralph Waldo Emerson tells us:

       The history of persecution is a history of endeavors to 
     cheat nature, to make water run uphill, to twist a rope of 
     sand. The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted 
     is a tongue of fame; every prison a more illustrious abode; 
     every burned book or house enlightens the world; every 
     suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth 
     from side to side. Hours of sanity and consideration are 
     always arriving to communities as to individuals when truth 
     is seen and martyrs are justified.


[[Page H2214]]


  His words ring very true to us, Mr. Speaker, as we again commemorate 
the Armenian genocide.

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