[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 21, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E715-E716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       REMEMBERING THE 85TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEPHEN HORN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 21, 1999

  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Radanovich and Bonior 
for their work to introduce a resolution this week to ensure that this 
nation continues to play an active role in protecting the memory of the 
Armenian Genocide that began 85 years ago. As we so unfortunately see 
again in Kosovo today, documenting the horrors of genocide--or ``ethnic 
cleansing'' as it is called in some circles--is vital if we are to ever 
stop such actions from occurring.
  The resolution that is being introduced calls upon the President to 
collect and house all relevant U.S. records relating to the Armenian 
Genocide and provide them to Congress, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial 
Museum, and the Armenian Genocide Museum in Yerevan, Armenia. It is 
necessary to do this because there are many who live in denial. Sadly, 
the Government of Turkey continues to deny what occurred at the 
beginning of this century, just as there are too many people who still 
deny the Jewish Holocaust where six million people were killed. Two 
million Cambodians were killed in the 1970s-1980s by Pol Pot and his 
communist thugs and ideologues. Even now in the Balkans there must be 
solid evidence of violence against the innocent civilians for no other 
reason than their ethnic identification.
  No one can take for granted the unexplainable ability of some people 
to look clearly at facts and still deny its very existence. Each year, 
Members of Congress join the world commemoration of the Armenian 
Genocide because it must not be forgotten. Time, distance, and current 
events frequently cloud the past and can reduce horrific events to 
little more than a footnote in history. The Armenian Genocide is not a 
footnote. More than 1.5 million Armenians were killed and the Genocide 
left deep scars upon those who survived. Those survivors carried their 
memories with them to my home state of California and the many other 
places they settled. Still, memories cannot fight those who would deny 
this tragedy.

[[Page E716]]

  Documenting the horrors of the Genocide cannot stop those who would 
deny it, any more than the extensive documentation of the Holocaust 
have stopped individuals from denying that abominable period. However, 
we cannot begin the fight against ignorance if we do not preserve the 
record of these crimes. The Armenian Genocide marked the beginning of a 
barbaric practice in the Twentieth Century. By remembering it we can 
help prevent future actions and punish the guilty in the future.

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