[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 45 (Wednesday, April 22, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H2219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  THE THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS REMEMBERS ARMENIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, last year on April 25th, 1997, I attended 
a remembrance for the 1\1/2\ million men, women, and children who were 
persecuted by the Turkish Ottoman government and who perished during 
1915 to 1923. The commemoration, held at the Worcester City Hall in 
Worcester, Massachusetts, honored the 60 survivors of the Armenian 
Genocide who are still living and residing in the Third Congressional 
District of Massachusetts. I had the privilege of meeting 14 of them, 
and nothing I can express will ever compare to their words or memories.
  In the past year I have had the privilege to meet with many Armenian 
Americans in discussions not only about Armenia, but also on how to 
strengthen our communities, our schools, our health care, and the 
welfare of our children. I have learned a great deal from the Armenian 
community in central Massachusetts and I hope that they will continue 
to share with me their views and their insights.
  I also had the opportunity to spend a memorable afternoon at the 
Armenian Youth Federation Summer Camp in Franklin, Massachusetts, also 
in my district. There I met and spoke with young Armenian Americans who 
come to this camp from all around the country. It is clear that the 
sons and daughters of Armenian heritage will continue to speak about 
their family's history and tragedy, and they will greatly enhance life 
in America with their spirit, intelligence and humor.
  It is as much out of my respect for them, these young people, that I 
feel privileged to add my voice to today's commemoration of the 
Armenian Genocide.
  Every year we gather not just to honor and commemorate the victims, 
but to stand witness and declare that we will never forget this 
horrific tragedy. What happened during those years was more than just a 
series of massacres carried out by the Turkish Government during a time 
of instability, revolution and war. Whole communities were wiped off 
the face of the map. Over 1\1/2\ million men, women, and children were 
deported, forced into slave labor, tortured and exterminated by the 
Ottoman Government of Turkey.
  It was deliberate. Millions of Armenians were systemically uprooted 
from their homeland of 3,000 years and eliminated through massacres and 
exile. It was a carefully executed plan of extermination. It was the 
first example of genocide in the 20th century, and it was the precursor 
to the Nazi Holocaust and the other cases of ethnic cleansing and mass 
extermination that are the nightmares that haunt and characterize our 
own times.
  Unlike Germany, the Government of Turkey, however, has never 
acknowledged its attempted annihilation of Armenians. Instead, 
successive Turkish governments have engaged in a global campaign of 
denial and historical revisionism.
  Mr. Speaker, this is why we must remember, why we must always 
remember. This is why we must speak out, why we must always speak out. 
To forget history dishonors the victims and the survivors of the 
Armenian Genocide, and it encourages tyrants everywhere to believe that 
they can kill with impunity.
  Over 30 nations, from Australia to Russia to Lebanon, have adopted 
resolutions officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Earlier this 
month the Senate in Brussels, Belgium, approved a resolution 
recognizing and commemorating the Armenian Genocide.
  Mr. Speaker, as an American and a Member of Congress, I am profoundly 
angry that the United States of America has yet to recognize the 
actions taken by the Turkish Government between 1894 and 1923 as acts 
of genocide against the Armenian people. What other name could we 
possibly give to actions that reduced the Armenian population in the 
Ottoman Empire from 2,500,000 souls at the beginning of World War I to 
the fewer than 80,000 who remain today inside of Turkey? Yet every year 
the administration fails to acknowledge that a genocide took place in 
order to appease our Turkish allies.
  As a Member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenia, I am a proud 
cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 55, legislation that honors the victims and 
survivors of the Armenian Genocide, and calls upon the United States 
Government to recognize the genocide and encourage the Republic of 
Turkey to acknowledge and commemorate the atrocity carried out against 
the Armenian people.
  As a Member of that caucus, I work with my congressional colleagues 
to strengthen support and assistance to the people of Armenia; to 
support the Democratic process and elections recently held in Armenia; 
and to support and aid the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabagh who must daily 
confront the hostility and violence of Azerbaijan and the threat of 
another genocide.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the 1,400 Armenian families who reside in 
my district, I will continue to work and speak on these issues in the 
105th Congress. I will continue to honor the memory of the survivors of 
the Armenian Genocide, and I will continue to work for the freedom and 
human rights of Armenians everywhere.
  I thank my colleagues, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) 
and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Porter), for their leadership on 
Armenian issues and for coordinating these special orders today.

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