[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 66 (Tuesday, April 24, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E850]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          NINETY-SECOND COMMEMORATION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

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                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 23, 2007

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to commemorate the 
anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th century. More than 90 
years ago, the Ottoman Empire organized a campaign to exterminate 1.5 
million Armenians. The world watched as this horror unfolded before 
them, and did nothing.
  As the first genocide of the 21st century--this time in Darfur--began 
to take shape, the world again hesitated, this time to debate for 
months the definition of genocide, as thousands died and thousands more 
were displaced. Today, 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and 
2.5 million driven from their homes. And so, I rise Mr. Speaker not 
only to acknowledge and remember the horrific events that befell the 
Armenian people at the dawn of the last century, but also to highlight 
the horrific events occurring one hundred years later in Darfur at the 
dawn of this century.
  For the past few years, as the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide 
approached, I hoped that year would be the year a solution to the 
crisis would come. But, this year, instead of speaking of how the 
lessons of the Armenian Genocide helped unite the world around a 
solution for Darfur, I can only report of ongoing suffering and 
continued killings.
  As the world pauses today to remember those who suffered and died 
during the Armenian Genocide, we need to ask ourselves if we have 
really absorbed the lessons of that tragedy--and, if we are really 
doing all that can be done to bring this century's genocide to an end.

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