[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 61 (Monday, April 28, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S5431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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COMMEMORATING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE BEGINNING OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

 Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today, as I do every 
year, to commemorate the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. It has 
now been 88 years since this tragic event unfolded, and after another 
year, the historical fact of this atrocity continues to be questioned.
  April 24, 1915, marked the beginning of the Ottoman Empire's brutal 
and unconscionable policy of mass murder, directed against men, women 
and children Armenians. Over 8 years, Armenians faced starvation, 
deportation, and violent death at the hands of their own government. 
Before the genocide began, 2.5 million Armenians lived in the Ottoman 
Empire. One and a half million Armenians were killed and another 
500,000 were driven from their homes, their property and land 
confiscated.
  Many descendants of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide live in 
the United States, and some actual survivors settled in my own State of 
California. Overall, half a million Armenian Americans live in 
California, and I am proud to serve them in the Senate. The strength 
and importance of their community exemplifies how any group of people 
can be reborn in the United States. Armenian Americans are at the 
forefront of the effort to keep the events of the Armenian Genocide in 
the public eye, but it is the duty of us all, as citizens of a nation 
that embodies justice, liberty, and freedom not to forget.
  We must take time each year to acknowledge this act of ethnic 
cleansing because we cannot afford to forget. The 20th century saw too 
many genocides, the events in the Ottoman Empire being only the first. 
In Germany and Eastern Europe, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Serbia, 
millions of people were killed because of their race, ethnicity, or 
religion.
  Through these tragedies, too many have remained silent. We must make 
clear, in the 21st century, that mass murder cannot be tolerated, will 
not be tolerated. We cannot afford to forget or hide events such as the 
Armenian Genocide, or another group in another place will experience 
the same persecution and the same systematic intent to destroy an 
entire people. This is why we must commemorate this horrific period in 
the history of the Armenian people each and every year.
  Let us remember the Armenian Genocide. Let us ensure that those who 
suffered did not die in vain. Let us ensure that those who survived did 
not do so to watch the world forget their sufferings. We honor the 
living by speaking out today.

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