[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 46 (Wednesday, April 12, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H2172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE 85TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fossella). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in commemoration of the 85th 
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a horrible period in our history 
that took the lives of 1.5 million Armenians and led to the exile of 
the Armenian nation from its historic homeland.
  My colleagues and I join with the Armenian-American community, and 
with Armenians throughout the world, to remember one of the darkest 
periods in the history of humankind. We owe this commemoration to those 
who perished because of the senseless hatred of others, and we need 
this commemoration because it is the only way to prevent such events in 
the future.
  We have already learned the lessons of forgetting. The Armenian 
Genocide, which began 15 years after the start of the twentieth 
century, was the first act of genocide this century, but it was far 
from the last. The indifference of the world to the slaughter of 1.5 
Armenians laid the foundation for other acts of genocide, including the 
Holocaust, Stalin's purges, and, most recently, ethnic cleansing in 
Kosovo.
  The lessons of the destruction that results when hatred is left 
unchecked have been too slowly learned. The world's indifference to the 
Armenian Genocide proved to Adolf Hitler that his plans to annihilate 
the Jewish people would encounter little opposition and would spur no 
global outcry. The post-Holocaust directive ``zachor,'' remember--lest 
history repeat itself, came too late for 1.5 million Armenians and 6 
million Jews. It came too late for millions of victims around the 
world.
  Today we recall the Armenian Genocide and we mourn its victims. But 
we also renew our pledge to the Armenian nation to do everything we can 
to prevent further aggression, and we renew our commitment to ensuring 
that Armenians throughout the world can live free of threats to their 
existence and prosperity.
  Unfortunately, we still have to work toward this simple goal. 
Azerbaijan continues to blockade Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh, denying 
the Armenian people the food, medicine, and other humanitarian 
assistance they need to lead secure, prosperous lives. And as long as 
this immoral behavior continues, I pledge to join my colleagues in 
continuing to send the message to Azerbaijan that harming civilians is 
an unacceptable means for resolving disputes.
  Mr. Speaker, after the Genocide, the Armenian people wiped away their 
tears and cried out, ``Let us always remember the atrocities that have 
taken the lives of our parents and our children and our neighbors.''
  As the Armenian-American author William Saroyan wrote, ``Go ahead, 
destroy this race . . . Send them from their homes into the desert . . 
. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh again, 
see if they will not sing and pray again. For, when two of them meet 
anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.''
  I rise today to remember those cries, and to pay tribute to the 
resilience of the Armenian people, who have contributed so much to our 
world. Those who have perished deserve our commemoration, and they also 
deserve our pledge to ensure that such an horrific chapter in history 
is never repeated again.

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