[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 21, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H2240-H2241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 COMMEMORATION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney of New York) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, as a proud member of the 
Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, and the representative of a 
large and vibrant community of Armenian Americans, I rise today to join 
my colleagues in the sad remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.
  First, I would like to commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Pallone) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Porter), cochairs of the 
Caucus, for all of their hard work on this issue and other issues of 
human rights.
  April 24, 1999 marks the 84th anniversary of the beginning of the 
Armenian Genocide. It was on that day in 1915 that over 200 Armenian 
religious, political and intellectual leaders were arrested and 
murdered in central Turkey. This date marks the beginning of an 
organized campaign by the young Turk government to eliminate the 
Armenians from the Ottoman Empire. Over the next 8 years, 1.5 million 
Armenians died at the hands of the Turks, and a half million more were 
deported.
  As the United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry 
Morgenthau, Sr. has written, and I quote, ``When the Turkish 
authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were merely 
giving the death warrant to a whole race. They understood this well and 
made no particular attempt to conceal the fact.''
  As a supporter of human rights, I am dismayed that the Turkish 
government

[[Page H2241]]

is still refusing to acknowledge what happened and, instead, is 
attempting to rewrite history.
  In a sense, even more appalling than Turkey's denial is the 
willingness of some officials in our own government to join in 
rewriting the history of the Armenian Genocide. It is vital that we do 
not let political agendas get in the way of doing what is right.

  Mr. Speaker, the issues surrounding the Armenian genocide should not 
go unresolved. I call upon the United States Government to demand 
complete accountability by the Turkish Government for the Armenian 
genocide of 1915-1923.
  To heal the wounds of the past, the Turkish Government must first 
recognize the responsibility of its country's leaders at that time for 
the catastrophe. Nothing we can do or say will bring those who perished 
back to life, but we can require them and bring everlasting meaning by 
teaching the lessons of the Armenian genocide to future generations.
  The noted philosopher George Santayana has said, ``Those who cannot 
remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'' We should heed this 
wise principle and do all we can to ensure that those that died, the 
people of the Armenian genocide, that these people are not forgotten.

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