[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 54 (Thursday, April 26, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COMMEMORATING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                      HON. RODNEY P. FRELINGHUYSEN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 24, 2001

  Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to participate once 
again in the annual remembrance of the Armenian genocide today, 86 
years after this terrible tragedy which claimed the lives of over 1.5 
million Armenians between 1915 and 1923.
  The Armenian Genocide began in 1915 with the rounding up and killing 
of Armenian soldiers by the Turkish government. After that, the 
government turned its attention to slaughtering Armenian intellectuals. 
They were killed because of their ethnicity, the first group in the 
20th Century killed not for their actions, but for who they were.
  By the time the bloodshed of the genocide ended, the victims included 
the aged, women and children who had been forced from their homes and 
marched to relocation camps, beaten and brutalized along the way. In 
addition to the 1.5 million dead, over 500,000 Armenians were driven 
from their homeland.
  It is important that we make the time, every year, to remember the 
victims of the Armenian genocide. We hope that, by remembering the 
bloodshed and atrocities committed against the Armenians, we can 
prevent this kind of tragedy from repeating itself Unfortunately, 
history continues to prove us wrong. That is why we must be so vigilant 
in remembering the past.
  It is important to continue to talk about the Armenian genocide. We 
must keep alive the memory of those who lost their lives during the 
eight years of bloodshed in Armenia. We must educate other nations who 
have not recognized that the Armenian genocide occurred.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend Armenian-Americans--the survivors and their 
descendants--who continue to educate the world about the tragedy of the 
Armenian Genocide and make valuable contributions to our shared 
American culture. Because of their efforts, the world will not be 
allowed to forget the memory of the victims of the first 20th Century 
holocaust.

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