[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 50 (Tuesday, May 2, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      COMMEMORATING THE 91ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. STEVEN R. ROTHMAN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 2, 2006

  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, today I join my colleagues in commemorating 
the 91st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and remembering the death 
of 1.5 million Armenians during the years 1915-1923.
  We have witnessed a reprehensible ninety-one years of denial by the 
international community of one of the most horrific crimes against 
humankind, the systematic and planned extermination of an entire ethnic 
group. The failure of the international community to hold the Ottoman 
Empire accountable for the Armenian Genocide initiated a cycle of 
genocide that continues to this day in Darfur, where an estimated 
400,000 people have died and 2.5 million people have been displaced 
from their homes.
  Turkey's persistent denial of their predecessor government's 
responsibility for the Armenian Genocide sets a dangerous precedent 
that makes future genocides more likely. In fact, many of the tactics 
employed by the Ottoman Empire against the defenseless Armenian 
population are now being used in Darfur today--forced exile, systematic 
deprivation of food and water, and murder through starvation. If the 
cycle is to end, there must be accountability for genocide. This is why 
it is critical that the U.S. government officially recognize the 
Armenian Genocide and also, pressure Turkey to end its campaign of 
genocide denial. Genocide denial is the last stage of genocide and what 
Elie Wiesel has termed to be a ``double killing.'' The United States 
cannot remain silent as this ``double killing'' continues every day 
through Turkey's multi-million dollar worldwide campaign to suppress 
the teaching of the Armenian Genocide.
  I stand united with Armenians and Armenian-Americans in my district 
and around the country who continue to fight for recognition of the 
atrocities of the Armenian Genocide so the world will never forget the 
first crime against humanity in the 20th Century. And I promise to 
continue to stand firm against the efforts of those who deny the 
Armenian Genocide.

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