[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 66 (Thursday, April 24, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  COMMEMORATING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE-

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 24, 2008

  Mr. WAXMAN. Madam Speaker, each year on April 24, Armenian 
communities around the world commemorate the start of the Armenian 
genocide. This year marks the 93rd anniversary of this ominous date in 
history when Ottoman authorities began rounding up leaders of the 
Armenian community. The arrests were followed by eight years of 
massacres, death marches, and forced deportations to rid the Ottoman 
Empire of its Armenian population.
  At the time, American diplomats, under the leadership of U.S. 
Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Sr., recorded and reported information 
about these atrocities. While the calls for international action were 
soon eclipsed by the tumult of World War I, the State Department's 
historical records of these accounts are a remarkable example of the 
important role our diplomatic corps play as human rights observers 
around the world.
  I am pleased to be a cosponsor of H. Res. 106, a resolution affirming 
the United States record on the Armenian Genocide, which calls for our 
foreign policy to reflect the U.S. record relating to this painful 
chapter of history. As we mourn the victims of the Armenian genocide 
and pay tribute to the survivors, let us look forward to the 
opportunity for the House to consider H. Res. 106 and stand up to those 
who seek to deny the genocide that took place.

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