[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 56 (Thursday, April 22, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF 1915-1923

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, as my colleagues and I do 
every year at this time, in a proud but solemn tradition to remember 
and pay tribute to the victims of one of history's worst crimes against 
humanity, the Armenian Genocide of 1915 to 1923.
  The issue of genocide has been forced onto our conscience and 
consciousness at the end of the 20th century by the tragic events in 
Kosovo. The ugly term ``ethnic cleansing'' has become a frequently 
heard expression. Indeed, one of the major rationales for the current 
NATO campaign has been to prevent the 20th century, which began with 
genocide, from ending with genocide.
  Comparisons can serve a useful and instructive role, but it is 
important at the same time to remember the uniqueness of an event such 
as the Armenian Genocide, one of the most horrible events of the 20th 
century and in all human history. Yet many, perhaps most Americans, and 
most people around the world are barely aware of this extremely 
significant historical event.
  Even more troubling than ignorance or indifference is the phenomenon 
of denial. Yes, just as with the obscene efforts to deny the Nazi 
Holocaust, there are actually people who try to deny that the Armenian 
Genocide ever happened. And we must meet these denials, these so-called 
revisionist claims, head on with the truth. The Armenian Genocide did 
happen.
  The Armenian Genocide was the systematic extermination of one-and-a-
half million Armenian men, women, and children during the final years 
of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. This was the first genocide of the 20th 
century, but sadly not the last.
  Saturday, April 24, will mark the 84th anniversary of the unleashing 
of the Armenian Genocide. And Armenian-Americans throughout the United 
States, and people of conscience everywhere are commemorating this 
event in various ways. The commemoration that I will participate in 
will be held on Sunday afternoon in Times Square in New York City. And 
there will be commemorations in my home State of New Jersey, around the 
country, and around the world.
  The ANCA and the Armenian Assembly of America have both been in the 
forefront of calling for recognition of the genocide not just for the 
people of Armenian descent but for all of us as an act of education and 
witness about the evils of genocide and the danger of forgetting.
  Yet, Mr. Speaker, I regret to say that the United States still does 
not officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. Bowing to strong 
pressure from Turkey, the U.S. State Department has for more than 15 
years shied away from referring to the events of 1915 through 1923 by 
the word ``genocide.'' President Clinton and his recent predecessors 
have annually issued proclamations on the anniversary of the genocide 
but always stopped short of using the word ``genocide,'' thus 
minimizing and not accurately conveying what really happened.
  In an effort to address this lapse in our own Nation's record, a 
bipartisan coalition of Members of Congress will be working to enact 
legislation affirming the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide.
  Expected to be introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Radonovich) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior), our 
Democratic whip, the legislation calls on the President to collect all 
U.S. records on the genocide and to provide them to the House Committee 
on International Relations, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the 
Armenian Genocide Museum in Yerevan.
  I have to say, Mr. Speaker, that the U.S. should go clearly on record 
and unambiguously recognize the Armenian Genocide and set aside April 
24 as a day of remembrance.
  It is also nothing short of a crime against memory and human decency 
in my opinion, Mr. Speaker, that the Republic of Turkey denies that the 
genocide ever took place and has even mounted an aggressive effort to 
try to present an alternative and false version of history, using its 
extensive financial and lobbying resources in this country. The Turkish 
Government has embarked on a strategy of endowing Turkish studies 
programs at various universities around the U.S., including a program 
at Princeton University in my home State of New Jersey.
  Mr. Speaker, for nearly a decade, the solemn remembrance of the 
tragedy of the genocide has been alleviated somewhat about the 
remarkable progress made by the Republics of Armenia and Nagorno-
Karabakh.
  Among the international dignitaries coming to Washington this weekend 
to take part in the NATO summit will be President Kocharian of the 
Republic of Armenia. President Kocharian will also address Members of 
Congress next Tuesday in this Capitol Building. He will take time out 
from the NATO activities on Saturday to lay a wreath at the tomb of 
President Woodrow Wilson, whose administration recognized that what was 
happening to the Armenian people under the Ottoman Empire during and 
after World War I represented a unique kind of evil, and President 
Wilson tried to at least somewhat alleviate the suffering.
  It is interesting that President Kocharian will be here as NATO is 
involved in a campaign against atrocities being committed against a 
civilian population. Back in the time of the Armenian Genocide, when 
Armenians were being murdered and deported and all record of the 
Armenian presence was erased, there was no Western alliance of 
democracies committed to stopping aggression, brutality, and genocide. 
Do we wish that there had been then?
  Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, let me just say I know that the Armenian 
Genocide is a painful subject to discuss. Yet we must never forget what 
happened and never cease speaking out.

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