[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 66 (Thursday, April 24, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E737-E738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      COMMEMORATING THE 93RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 24, 2008

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN.  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 93rd 
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenian 
men, women, and children were killed by Ottoman authorities during 
World War I.
  On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman government began its genocidal plan by 
arresting and murdering over 250 Armenian intellectuals and political 
figures in Istanbul. In the interior of the Ottoman Empire, where the 
bulk of the Armenian population lived, the government then arrested and 
killed village leaders. Meanwhile, most able-bodied Armenian men, who 
had been conscripted into the Ottoman army, were separated into labor 
battalions and subsequently murdered. Next, in various provinces, 
gendarmes and the army massacred Armenian villagers outright, while in 
other provinces, the remaining Armenian population of women, children 
and the elderly were forcibly deported over the mountains and into the 
scorching deserts of Syria, without food and water. Many of the female 
deportees were raped and killed en route, while other deportees died of 
starvation and dehydration. By the end of 1915 the centuries-old 
Armenian civilization of eastern Anatolia no longer existed.
  U.S. diplomats who were stationed in Anatolia at the time were some 
of the main eyewitnesses and chroniclers of that horrific period. U.S. 
Consul Leslie Davis, stationed in Harput in eastern Anatolia, wrote the 
following in a cable to U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, dated July 
24, 1915: ``It has been no secret that the plan was to destroy the 
Armenian race as a race, but the methods used have been more cold-
blooded and barbarous, if not effective, than I had first supposed.'' 
He also wrote in this same cable: ``I do not believe there has ever 
been a massacre in the history of the world so general and thorough as 
that which is now being perpetrated in this region or that a more 
fiendish, diabolical scheme has been conceived in the mind of man.''
  This cable, and many others of a similar nature, is housed in the 
U.S. National Archives only a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol and the 
White House. They provide unambiguous, documentary evidence of what 
occurred. Yet there are those who still refuse to properly characterize 
what happened to the Armenian people during World War I as genocide. 
Although the word ``genocide'' was not invented in 1915, what these 
diplomats described was indeed genocide of a people.
  I am deeply disappointed that many of our current officials avoid 
characterizing what occurred as ``genocide.'' This avoidance does a 
disservice to the memory of the victims and their descendants, and 
hurts our moral standing in the world. I hope that one day soon, this 
legislative body and the U.S. Administration will properly characterize 
what happened to the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire.
  Many of the survivors of the Armenian genocide settled in the United 
States. Bearing painful physical and emotional scars, they

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nonetheless re-established their lives here, worked hard, and became 
proud American citizens, thankful for the opportunity to live in 
freedom. Many of their descendants have become leaders in the fields of 
science, business, academia, and the arts, and have served their 
country bravely in military uniform. They have also created a vibrant 
community. Yet they also bear the pain of what their parents and 
grandparents went through and are actively engaged in the effort to 
seek proper recognition of what happened to the Armenian people in 
1915. Today, as we recall the events of the Armenian genocide and pay 
homage to the victims, we also honor the Armenian-American community 
for its unwavering commitment to this human rights struggle.

                          ____________________