[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 23, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S3301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I take this opportunity today to solemnly 
observe the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
  The Armenian genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century. 
From 1915 until 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were brutally killed by the 
Ottoman Turks in a systematic effort to eradicate the Armenian people. 
There were unbearable acts of torture; men were separated from their 
families and murdered; women and children were put on a forced march 
across the Syrian desert without food or water.
  Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1913 
to 1916, recalled:

       When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these 
     deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a 
     whole race; they understood this well, and, in their 
     conversations with me, they made no particular attempt to 
     conceal the fact . . . I am confident that the whole history 
     of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. 
     The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost 
     insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian 
     race in 1915.

  Tragically, 1915 was just the beginning. We saw the horrors of 
genocide in World War II when Jews were subjected to systematic 
extermination at the hands of Adolf Hitler and his followers. Indeed, 
Hitler remarked at the outset of this unbridled evil, ``Who, after all, 
speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?'' Unfortunately, the 
phrase ``never again'' turned out to be a hollow slogan. In the later 
half of the last century, countries like Cambodia and Rwanda were 
ravaged while the world was silent. And even now, in this new century, 
Darfur is the latest place to experience such brutality and inhumanity 
as the world stands idly by, either incapable or unwilling to do what 
is necessary to stop the devastation and murder.
  Today, the Turkish Government denies what happened in the dying days 
of the Ottoman Empire and thus this scar on history cannot be healed 
until history is accurately spoken, written, and recalled. These are 
lessons that must be told and repeated to each and every generation.
  In order for democracy and human rights to flourish, we must not 
support efforts to rewrite and deny history. In the United States, we 
strive to make human rights a fundamental component of our democracy. 
It is long overdue for our Nation to demand that the truth be told. We 
must recognize the Armenian genocide in the name of democracy, 
fairness, and human rights.
  To that end, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of Senator 
Richard Durbin's S. Res. 106, calling on the President to accurately 
characterize the Armenian Genocide in his annual message around April 
24 and to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects 
appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to 
human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United 
States record relating to the Armenian Genocide.
  It is important that we recognize the Armenian Genocide while its 
survivors are still with us to tell their stories. We must recognize 
the genocide for the survivors. We must recognize the genocide because 
it's the right thing to do. We must recognize the Armenian Genocide to 
help shed light on the darkness and move toward a more humane world.

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