[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 ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

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                        HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 24, 2008

  Mr. CAPUANO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 93rd 
anniversary of the Armenian genocide and to celebrate a people who 
despite murder, hardship, and betrayal have persevered.
  Throughout three decades in the late nineteenth and early twentieth 
centuries, millions of Armenians were systematically uprooted from 
their homeland of three thousand years and deported or massacred. From 
1894 through 1896, three hundred thousand Armenians were ruthlessly 
murdered. Again in 1909, thirty thousand Armenians were massacred in 
Cilicia, and their villages were destroyed.
  On April 24, 1915, two hundred Armenian religious, political, and 
intellectual leaders were arbitrarily arrested, taken to Turkey and 
murdered. This incident marks a dark and solemn period in the history 
the Armenian people. From 1915 to 1923, the Ottoman Empire launched a 
systematic campaign to exterminate Armenians. In eight short years, 
more than 1.5 million Armenians suffered through atrocities such as 
deportation, forced slavery and torture. Most were ultimately murdered.
  Many of our companions in the international community have already 
taken a final step towards healing and reconciliation. The European 
Parliament and the United Nations have recognized and reaffirmed the 
Armenian Genocide as historical fact, as have the Russian and Greek 
parliaments, the Canadian House of Commons, the Lebanese Chamber of 
Deputies and the French National Assembly. It is time for America to 
join the chorus and acknowledge the Armenians who suffered at the hands 
of the Ottoman Empire. And let me stress that I am not speaking of the 
government of modern day Turkey, but rather its predecessor, which many 
of Turkey's present day leaders helped to remove from power.
  As I have in the past, as a member of the Congressional Armenian 
Caucus, I will continue to work with my colleagues and with the 
Armenian-Americans in my district to promote investment and prosperity 
in Armenia. And, I sincerely hope that this year, the U.S. will have 
the opportunity and courage to speak in support of the millions of 
Armenians who suffered because of their heritage.

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