[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 135 (Thursday, October 1, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1873-E1874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


IN HONOR OF THE SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE REPUBLIC 
                               OF ARMENIA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 1, 1998

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Seventh 
Anniversary of the Independence of the Armenian Republic, which was 
celebrated last Monday, September 21st.
  Mr. Speaker, last month, we showed on the floor of this House that 
the Armenian people and nation have many friends in the Congress. 
During the debate on the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, we 
succeeded in rolling back an effort to repeal Section 907 of the 
Freedom Support Act--a provision barring direct aid to the Government 
of Azerbaijan until that country lifts its blockades of Armenia and 
Nagorno Karabagh. I'm extremely proud to have been involved in that 
bipartisan effort. My goal, and that of my colleagues, as American 
elected officials, was to ensure that we keep a valuable and moral law 
on the books. But I'm also glad that, the way things worked out, it 
turned out to be a nice Independence Day present to Armenia.
  Mr. Speaker, the story of the Armenian people--one of the world's 
most ancient and enduring cultures, the first nation to adopt 
Christianity as its national religion--is an inspiring saga of courage 
and devotion to family and nation. It is also an unforgettable story of 
the triumph of a people over adversity and tragedy. Earlier in this 
century, in one of history's most horrible crimes against humanity, 1.5 
million Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered by the 
Ottoman Turkish Empire. Every April, Members of this House join in 
commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. We can never relent, and we 
will never relent, in our efforts to remind the world that this tragedy 
is an historic fact--despite the efforts of so-called ``revisionists,'' 
many of them funded by the Turkish government, to deny the truth--and 
to make sure that our nation, the world community, and especially the 
Turkish nation, come to terms with and appropriately commemorate this 
historic fact.
  During the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the people of Armenia 
briefly established an independent state. But the Armenian lands were 
absorbed either into Ataturk's Turkey, where traces of Armenian history 
and culture were completely wiped out, or the Soviet Union, where at 
least some Armenian cultural presence was maintained, even if most of 
the political shots were called in Moscow.
  Mr. Speaker, it was the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 that 
allowed the Armenian people to re-establish a state and a nation, to 
create a society where their language, culture, religion and other 
institutions would be able to prosper. The progress made in seven short 
years by the Republic of Armenia has been an inspiration--not only for 
the sons and daughters of the Diaspora, but for all Americans who 
support the cause of freedom. Having survived the Genocide, and having 
endured decades under the domination of the Soviet Union, the brave 
people of Armenia have endeavored to build a free and proud nation, 
based on the principles of democracy and a market economy.
  Mr. Speaker, as they have for so much of their history, the Armenian 
people have accomplished all this against daunting odds. The tiny, 
land-locked Republic of Armenia is surrounded by hostile neighbors--
Turkey and Azerbaijan--who have imposed blockades that have halted the 
delivery of basic necessities. Yet, independent Armenia continues to 
persevere. While democracy has proven to be elusive in much of the 
former Soviet bloc, democratic Armenia held multi-party Presidential 
elections this year that continued the steady progress towards the 
permanent taking root of the institutions of democracy and civil 
society.
  As the founder and co-chairman, with the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. 
Porter], of the

[[Page E1874]]

Congressional Caucus on Armenia Issues, I consider U.S.-Armenia 
relations to be one of our key foreign policy objectives. Support for 
Armenia is in our practical interests, helping to support a stable 
nation in a strategically important and often unstable part of the 
world. Standing by Armenia is also consistent with America's calling to 
support democracy and human rights, and to defend free peoples 
throughout the world.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to emphasize that the people of Armenia want good 
relations with their neighbors and the entire world community, and I 
believe the moral, political and economic power of the United States 
can go a long way toward helping Armenia achieve that goal.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that as we mark future Independence Days of the 
Republic of Armenia, we can look back with pride on building peace and 
prosperity in the entire Trans-Caucasus region, so that the people of 
Armenia and their neighbors can enjoy a stable, hopeful future. I hope 
that the Republic of Turkey and Azerbaijan will have responded 
positively to Armenia's offer to normalize relations, exchanging 
diplomats and allowing the free flow of goods and people across their 
borders. I hope that, with the active participation of the United 
States, we will have resolved the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, in a 
manner that guarantees the security and self-determination of the 
people of Karabagh. I hope that the effort to tap the vast Caspian Sea 
oil reserves will finally culminate in the construction of a pipeline 
carrying the oil west to Mediterranean ports through Azerbaijan, 
Armenia and Turkey--thereby further linking those neighbors in mutually 
beneficial security and economic ties. I hope that our policy in the 
region will not be overly influenced by the development of these oil 
reserves, at the expense of the values of democracy and human rights.
  Thus, Mr. Speaker, while the reality for the people of the Republic 
of Armenia continues to be difficult, let us take this occasion to wish 
them well on the occasion of their Independence Day, and, more 
important, on their ongoing journey to establish a stable, democratic 
republic and a permanent homeland for the Armenian people in the 
Caucasus.

                          ____________________