[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 54 (Thursday, April 26, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COMMEMORATING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. STEVEN R. ROTHMAN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 24, 2001

  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, today I join with my colleagues in 
commemorating the 86th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Along with 
the Armenian-American community in my district and with people of 
goodwill throughout the country, Congress today is observing the death 
of 1.5 million Armenians from the years 1915-1923.
  As we gather today, many of my constituents over the weekend 
participated in solemn services held in the memory of the martyrs of 
the Armenian Genocide. Whether at St. Leon Armenian Apostolic Church in 
Fair Lawn, Saints Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Church in Ridgefield, 
or at Saint Thomas Armenian Apostolic Church in Tenafly, thousands of 
Americans of Armenian descent will be joining together in Northern New 
Jersey this evening to ensure that the world does not forget the first 
crime against humanity of the 20th century.
  And so let me offer my solidarity with those remembering the Armenian 
Genocide today. And let me also emphasize that we should today not only 
remember the martyred, but as well, the survivors of the Armenian 
genocide. Though few survivors of the Armenian Genocide are still 
living today, those who endured the horrors of 1915, are heroes for all 
time.
  Today, the people of Armenia and her Diaspora are proudly looking to 
rebuild their country. From the ashes of despair born of the genocide, 
and from the ravages of seven decades of Communist rule, Armenians the 
world over are striving to secure a safe and prosperous future for 
Armenian and Nagonno-Karabagh.
  As Armenian-Americans rebuild their homeland, and as they seek to 
secure an economically prosperous state, founded on firm democratic 
principles, I will stand by them.
  Let me conclude my brief remarks today by encouraging the young 
people of America to never forget the tragedy and lessons of 1915. 
Because as George Santayana once remarked, `Those who forget history 
are condemned to repeat it.' And if no clearer evidence of these 
prescient words are necessary let us remind one another today that 
before commencing the Holocaust, Hitler himself stated, `Who today 
remembers the Armenians?'
  As a Jewish-American and being ever mindful of the Holocaust, I join 
with my colleagues today in observing the Armenian Genocide. And I 
promise to stand firm against the shameful efforts of those who today 
seek to deny the Armenian Genocide.

                          ____________________