[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 66 (Thursday, April 24, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E718]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      COMMEMORATING THE 93RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

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                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 24, 2008

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of the 1.5 
million men, women and children who were killed and the 500,000 
survivors who were expelled from their homes during the Armenian 
Genocide. Today marks the 93rd anniversary of the beginning of a 
systematic effort carried out by the Ottoman Empire, which ultimately 
resulted in the elimination of ethnic Armenians from their historic 
homeland.
  On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman authorities arrested approximately 250 
Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Istanbul. Following 
this episode, the military proceeded to round up hundreds of thousands 
of Armenians and force them to march hundreds of miles into present day 
Syria, denying them food and water along the way. Those that were not 
slaughtered and survived the treacherous journey were brutally raped 
and beaten along the way.
  The root of this occurrence can be attributed to an official policy 
of discrimination, which culminated in genocide. I urge my colleagues 
to read Samantha Powers widely acclaimed book, A Problem From Hell: 
America and the Age of Genocide, which clearly describes this as 
genocide.
  May we all take a moment to remember the victims of the Armenian 
Genocide, one of the most horrible tragedies of the 20th century. We 
remember, not so that we may dwell on the events of the past, but so 
that we may renew our personal commitments to never stand idly by and 
let such a tragedy happen again.

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