[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 66 (Thursday, April 24, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S3391]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      COMMEMORATING THE 93RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today, on the 93rd anniversary of the 
onset of the Armenian genocide, to honor the victims of this terrible 
tragedy and to reiterate my unwavering support for the United States 
Government to officially recognize as genocide the series of atrocities 
carried out against the Armenian population by the Ottoman Empire 
beginning on April 24, 1915.
  It truly saddens me that after 93 years, the United States has failed 
to acknowledge the Armenian genocide for what it was. Between 1915 and 
1923, the Ottoman Empire forcibly deported around 2 million Armenians, 
of whom 1.5 million men, women, and children were killed. Those 
fortunate enough to survive the massacres, forced marches, and 
deliberate starvation, were ejected from their homeland.
  In response to reports of these horrific events, U.S. Ambassador to 
the Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau, Sr. explicitly condemned the 
policy of the Government of the Ottoman Empire as ``a campaign of race 
extermination.'' Moreover, Ambassador Morgenthau was praised by U.S. 
Secretary of State Robert Lansing for his efforts ``to stop Armenian 
persecution.''
  Perhaps more significant to the Chamber in which I stand today was 
the passage of S. Con. Res. 12 on February 9, 1916. This prescient 
piece of legislation not only acknowledged that a colossal tragedy had 
ensued in the midst of the Great War, but also resolved that the 
President of the United States ``designate a day on which the citizens 
of this country may give expression to their sympathy by contributing 
funds now being raised for the relief of the Armenians,'' who, at that 
time, were enduring ``starvation, disease, and untold suffering'' at 
the hands of the Ottoman leadership.
  Less than 4 years later, while the Armenian genocide continued, the 
Senate would also pass S. Res. 359, which stated, in part, that recent 
congressional testimony ``clearly established the truth of the reported 
massacres and other atrocities from which the Armenian people have 
suffered.''
  I say to my friends in the Senate, given how our esteemed colleagues 
of the past reflected on this terrible tragedy, I cannot help but think 
that they would have surely labeled these atrocities as genocide if 
only the word had been coined. The United States has a rich history of 
defending human rights, standing up for the oppressed, and speaking the 
truth about genocide. However, in spite of support from Members of 
Congress and leaders in the Armenian community, the official policy of 
the executive branch of the United States still does not recognize the 
Armenian genocide.
  I am so proud that my home state of Nevada, with its vibrant 
Armenian-American community, and 40 other U.S. States have, by 
legislation or proclamation, already recognized the Armenian Genocide. 
In fact, on April 11, 2000, former Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn 
proclaimed April 24, 2000, as a day of remembrance of ``The First 
Genocide of the 20th Century.''
  I would also like to congratulate the Armenian-Americans of southern 
Nevada for planning yet another successful Armenian Genocide 
Commemoration event on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las 
Vegas. It is so wonderful to see this community from my home county 
come together each year to honor the survivors and their deceased 
brethren, and I wish my Armenian friends in Nevada the best of luck 
with this year's commemoration and those for years to come. May God 
bless them and all of those who fight on their behalf.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate the 93rd 
anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
  On April 24, 1915, an ancient nation faced extermination when 
officials of the Ottoman Government initiated a series of raids in 
which hundreds of Armenians were arrested and subsequently deported or 
killed. Isolated incidents of brutality had occurred before, but sadly 
this event marked the beginning of a campaign of murder, deportation, 
and forced starvation. When the violence ultimately ended, as many as 
1.5 million Armenians had died and 500,000 were exiled. Armenians all 
but disappeared from land their people had occupied for centuries.
  The American Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time was the 
distinguished Henry Morgenthau who described the horrors perpetrated 
against the Armenians as the ``murder of a nation.''
  Just this week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which I have 
the honor to chair, had a hearing on the systematic murder of innocents 
in Darfur. The incident serves as an important reminder that an open 
discussion of the Armenian genocide is critical. Since the 1915 ethnic 
cleansing, the murder by a government of its own citizens has occurred 
again and again.
  It is depressing to think that human beings have not learned their 
lesson. The whole world is diminished, wounded, and made poorer by such 
tragedies and we must not forget them if we hope to prevent them. The 
commemoration of this act of brutality and systematic murder 93 years 
ago is important and relevant not only for the survivors and their 
descendents, but for humanity as a whole.

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