[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 65 (Monday, April 23, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H3756-H3758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS REMEMBERS THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 92nd 
anniversary and commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. Yesterday, I 
had the privilege to join the Armenian-American community of Worcester, 
Massachusetts, including survivors of the Genocide and their families, 
and many dignitaries of Central Massachusetts and the Commonwealth at 
an event remembering the Armenian Genocide and the role it plays in 
understanding contemporary events.
  I am submitting today for the Record a copy of the remarks I made at 
this special commemoration and an article that appeared in the 
Worcester Telegram and Gazette.

                 Worcester Armenian Genocide Observance

       I want to thank Father Terzian and the Armenian Church of 
     Our Savior for inviting me

[[Page H3757]]

     to participate in this remembrance--and I'm very pleased to 
     be here with Lt. Governor Tim Murray and the Mayor of 
     Worcester, Konstantina Lukes. But I am especially honored to 
     be here with the Worcester Armenian-American community, 
     survivors of the Armenian Genocide, and their families.
       There are several reasons why I look forward to this event 
     each year.
       First and foremost, it gives me an opportunity to reconnect 
     with all of you, the Worcester Armenian-American community, 
     and to thank you for all your fine work and contributions to 
     our city.
       Second, it is a moment when we recommit ourselves to 
     pressing the United States government to officially recognize 
     the Armenian Genocide.
       And finally, it provides me each year with a moment to 
     reflect on our world; and on how I as an individual, we as a 
     community, and we as a Nation are responding to genocide and 
     crimes against humanity that, sadly and unbelievably, are 
     carried out nearly every day in some part of the world.
       I believe that this year there is a very good chance that 
     the U.S. House of Representatives might actually pass H. Res. 
     106, the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
       I can tell that this is a real possibility because for the 
     first time in years, I'm receiving materials arguing against 
     the resolution and against the official recognition of the 
     Armenian Genocide.
       I believe adopting the Armenian Genocide Resolution is the 
     right thing to do:
       As a matter of morality--and in the name of humanity--the 
     United States should recognize and condemn all genocides.
       In the name of historic truth--and in honor of the historic 
     role so many American diplomatic personnel and humanitarian 
     and relief workers played in saving lives and condemning the 
     genocide as it was taking place--the U.S. especially should 
     recognize the Armenian Genocide.
       And in the hope of preventing future genocides--we have to 
     recognize and honor the truth of the past. Denial of the 
     Armenian Genocide--just like denial of the Holocaust--makes 
     future genocides more likely, not less.
       No Nation, not Turkey or any other country, should be 
     allowed to block the official recognition or commemoration or 
     the teaching of historic truth about the Armenian Genocide.
       It's ironic that the current Turkish government doesn't 
     seem to realize that the more it denies the Armenian 
     Genocide, the more people begin to think that there really is 
     a connection between the Turks who carried out the Armenian 
     Genocide at the beginning of the 20th century and today's 
     21st century government.
       By denying the truth, Turkey undermines its own standing 
     throughout the world, blocks its own acceptance into the 
     European family, and increases regional tensions, especially 
     with neighboring Armenia. Turkey's recognition of the 
     Genocide, its reconciliation with the past, would widely be 
     viewed as the act of a mature democracy, which the world 
     would rush to embrace and reward.
       This is why America must also officially recognize the 
     Armenian Genocide.
       A couple of weeks ago, I was in eastern Chad. And the 
     reality of genocide was right before my eyes.
       There are over 250,000 refugees from Darfur, Sudan living 
     in camps inside Chad. Thanks to the many international and 
     humanitarian workers who have chosen to work and help these 
     survivors of the violence taking place every day in Darfur, 
     the camps are well-organized and efficient.
       But I'd like to describe for you some of what I saw--and 
     what the Darfur refugees told me about what they had 
     witnessed.
       I met with individuals and families who had been forced to 
     flee their villages in Darfur. Each had a story about loved 
     ones murdered, homes destroyed, people and family left 
     behind. Many didn't know if some of their family or children 
     were even alive.
       I talked with one woman who was harvesting onions at a 
     small agricultural site in Camp Gaga, a Darfur refugee camp a 
     couple of hours from the town of Abeche in eastern Chad. She 
     held a tiny baby in her arms as she worked on her onion 
     patch. She told me the Janjaweed attacked her village so 
     quickly and so ferociously that she couldn't even bury her 
     husband who was struck down in the attack; she barely had 
     time to cover him with a sheet before she escaped with her 
     baby and children. She feels guilty and thinks about this all 
     the time. And she now hopes to stay alive and return, 
     someday, to her village.
       I met with several other men and women, refugees from 
     Darfur, at the Goz Amer Camp near the town of Koukou, Chad. 
     This is a much larger and older camp. Many of the people have 
     been here for 3 years or so. These people were being 
     interviewed for the eyewitness testimony regarding crimes 
     against humanity that some day may be reviewed by the 
     International Criminal Court.
       I went to eastern Chad to meet and talk with refugees from 
     Darfur because the Government of Sudan wouldn't give me a 
     visa to enter their country.
       But sometimes things happen for a reason, I believe. 
     Because not only did I learn about the reality of Darfur--I 
     personally discovered Chad.
       The war in Darfur is bleeding into Chad, as well as other 
     neighboring countries.
       While I was in Chad, two ``towns''--Tiero and Marena, which 
     actually consist of about 31 small villages--were attacked by 
     ``Janjaweed'' militias operating inside Chad. According to 
     the Chadian survivors who I talked to--they described their 
     attackers as a combination of Sudanese Janjaweed and Chadian 
     Janjaweed allies. They were armed. They were on horseback. 
     The attacks started at about five in the morning, and came in 
     about 3 distinct waves of attack. They shot randomly, at 
     everything and everyone. Women, children, men, livestock, 
     fell to the earth dead or wounded. Homes were burned to the 
     ground. Abandoned crockery, left charred and broken.
       These Chadians--now internally displaced inside their own 
     country--were gathering in the thousands near Koukou--some 
     estimates were 8,000-9,000. Many walked, some arrived on the 
     backs of burros, and many others were being trucked in by 
     humanitarian groups. U.N. agencies and NGOs were rushing to 
     provide them with emergency aid and to set up an emergency 
     operations site where people could receive food, water, 
     medical aid, and some form of shelter from the relentless 
     heat.
       These new internally displaced now join the more than 
     140,000 Chadian IDPs.
       I had the privilege to watch UNHCR, UNICEF, Doctors without 
     Borders (Medicins sans Frontierres), the ICRC, Italian Aid, 
     and the World Food Program work together to provide emergency 
     relief to these traumatized people.
       So this year, as we meet to remember and commemorate the 
     92nd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, I'm struggling to 
     find meaning in the words, ``Never Again.''
       I'm thankful to this community especially, which has worked 
     tirelessly for nearly a century, to keep alive the historic 
     memory of the Armenian Genocide and to speak out, condemn and 
     organize against the genocides--too many--that mark the past 
     nine decades of human history.
       Thank you for your persistence. Thank you for your 
     commitment to take action. Thank you for your generosity and 
     compassion.
       And thank you, once again, for including me in this special 
     program.
                                  ____
                                  

        [From the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, Apr. 23, 2007]

                    `Look at Darfur,' Armenians Say


                     genocide remembrance resonates

                           (By Mike Elfland)

       Worcester.--The region's Armenian community yesterday 
     recognized a genocide that for many has a meaning with an 
     intensifying importance.
       References to Darfur and the recent slaying of a journalist 
     who defied the Turkish government were made throughout 
     yesterday's commemoration of what is known as the Armenian 
     genocide. On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian 
     intellectuals, notably political leaders, were rounded up and 
     eventually killed by the Turkish government. More than 1.5 
     million Armenians would later die at the hands of the Ottoman 
     Turks, with thousands forcibly removed from Armenia to Syria, 
     where many died in the desert of thirst and hunger.
       ``We say, `Look at Darfur,' '' said Richard O. Asadoorian, 
     the host speaker at the commemoration, referring to the 
     region in Sudan where black Africans are being massacred by 
     militias supported by the Arab-dominated government. Mr. 
     Asadoorian urged Armenians not to let time lessen the 
     importance of what happened 92 years ago.
       Many survivors of the genocide eventually settled in the 
     Worcester area. A significant Armenian population remains, 
     and their pride in their ancestry was evident yesterday at 
     the Armenian Church of Our Saviour Cultural Center on Boynton 
     Street, where more than 200 gathered for a welcome history 
     lesson.
       Nancy Hovhanesian, Thomas Tashjian and Ara G. Asadoorian 
     recounted stories told to them by grandparents and other 
     older relatives who survived the genocide. Mrs. Hovhanesian 
     talked of the great-grandparents she never knew and of how 
     her grandparents' pain was absorbed by her mother.
       Andrea Kisiel, a sophomore at South High Community School, 
     shared her views of the genocide in an award-winning essay. 
     Andrea took top honors for her take on ``The Contemporary 
     Relevance of the Armenian Genocide,'' the subject of an essay 
     contest sponsored by the Greater Worcester Armenian Genocide 
     Commemoration Committee.
       Andrea, who is not of Armenian descent, wrote of a recent 
     trip to Washington, where she visited the United States 
     Holocaust Memorial Museum and had an eye-opening experience 
     about history.
       She wrote: ``Then, I saw something that astounded me, 
     surprised me, wrenched my heart out of my chest. There, on 
     the wall commemorating all of the poor souls who had been 
     discriminated against, snatched away from familiarity, and 
     tortured ruthlessly until put to death, was inscribed my 
     family name. My name which was not from Jewish descent. My 
     name which was Polish and Catholic. My name that I had not 
     the slightest idea could possibly be connected with a mass 
     genocide. My very own name, there on the wall.''
       Although she has no known relatives who died in the 
     Holocaust, said Andrea, the experience in Washington made her 
     realize the importance of the Armenian genocide to its 
     survivors.
       Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray, U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-
     Worcester, state Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester, and 
     Mayor Konstantina B. Lukes were among the speakers at the 
     2\1/2\-hour commemoration. Both connected the past deaths of 
     Armenians to the continuing genocide in the

[[Page H3758]]

     Darfur region of Sudan. Mr. McGovern has long pushed for 
     increased U.S. involvement in saving thousands of refugees.
       Mr. McGovern, who was greeted enthusiastically yesterday, 
     backs legislation that would require the U.S. government to 
     officially recognize the Armenian genocide. Some say the 
     reluctance is tied to deference to Turkey's importance to 
     America's interests abroad. Modern Turkey strongly rejects 
     the characterization of what happened as genocide.
       Loud applause erupted after the congressman said he would 
     direct naysayers to a public library where they could learn 
     about the deaths of Armenians. ``Facts are stubborn things,'' 
     he said.
       The main speaker was filmmaker Apo Torosyan, a native of 
     Istanbul, Turkey, who now lives in Peabody. His documentary, 
     ``Voices,'' finished this year, is based on interviews with 
     three survivors of the genocide. After he began making 
     documentaries, Mr. Torosyan was not allowed to return to 
     Turkey.
       A 15-minute version of ``Voices'' was shown yesterday.
       Mr. Torosyan spoke passionately about the Jan. 19 slaying 
     in Turkey of Hrant Dink, a Turkish citizen of Armenian 
     descent who was the editor of a Turkish-Armenian newspaper. 
     His enemies included nationalist Turks who resented his use 
     of the genocide label. He was killed outside his office in 
     Istanbul.
       The commemoration was organized by members of the Armenian 
     Church of Our Saviour, Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church 
     and the Armenian Church of the Martyrs.

     

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