[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 132 (Thursday, October 19, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H10468-H10469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CONCERNING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I want to applaud the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Smith) for his presentation, his visual aids, and the 
opportunity to see his grandchildren and to recognize that is why we 
are all here. We are here for the future.
  This evening, Mr. Speaker, my special order is on a different matter. 
The House was scheduled to consider House Resolution 596 this evening, 
and I regret that it will not do so. That resolution calls upon the 
President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States 
reflects understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to 
human rights, ethnic cleansing and genocide documented in the United 
States record relating to the Armenian genocide.
  More than 80 years ago the rulers of the Ottoman Empire made a 
decision to attempt to eliminate the Armenian people living under their 
rule. Between 1915 and 1923, nearly 1.5 million Armenian people died 
and another 500,000 were deported.
  The resolution that we are not considering, that we would have, 
serves a dual purpose. First and foremost, it is to show respect and 
remembrance to those Armenian people and their families who suffered 
during those 8 years at the beginning of that century.
  Secondly, it exemplifies that if we are ever to witness a universal 
respect for human rights, we have to begin by acknowledging the truth, 
and the truth is that governments still continue to commit atrocities 
against their own citizens while escaping the consequences of their 
actions, internally by means of repression, and externally, for reasons 
of political expediency.
  The events that took place under the rule of the Ottoman Empire were 
real. Real people died, and the results were and still are shocking. If 
we in the Congress continue to react with silence regarding these 
events and are unwilling to stand up and publicly condemn these 
horrible occurrences, we effectively give our approval to abuses of 
power such as the Armenian genocide. We must let the truth about these 
events be known and continue to speak out against all instances of 
man's and woman's inhumanity to man- and womankind.
  I regret that rather than deal honestly and objectively with the 
truth, the government of Turkey continues to deny the genocide for 
which its predecessor state bears responsibility. I regret that it is 
not politically convenient to affirm the genocide. I regret that this 
administration prefers political expediency to principle.
  Today, nearly 1 million Armenian people live in the United States. 
They are a proud people, who spent 70 years fighting Stalinist 
domination, and, finally in the last decade, they have achieved 
freedom. But even that freedom will never allow them to forget the 
hardships suffered by their friends and family nearly a century ago, 
nor will they ever stop forcing us to recognize that these, and similar 
acts, must continue to be condemned by nations and people who hold the 
highest respect for human rights. The United States should do so.

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