[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 73 (Monday, May 5, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E815]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      COMMEMORATING THE 93RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 5, 2008

  Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the survivors of the 
Armenian Genocide and their descendants. This year marks the 93rd 
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
  The genocide of the Armenian people by the Ottoman Empire during 
World War I represents a major tragedy of the modern age. Carried out 
between 1915 and 1923, the Armenian Genocide was a systematic and 
deliberate campaign by the Turkish Ottoman Empire to destroy its 
Armenian minority. While there is no consensus as to how many Armenians 
lost their lives, there is general agreement among western scholars 
that between 500,000 and 1,500,000 Armenians died and that nearly all 
Armenians were exiled from their homeland.
  The date of the onset of the genocide is conventionally held to be 
April 24, 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities arrested some 250 
Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Istanbul. These 
Armenian political, religious, educational, and intellectual leaders 
were arrested, deported, and mercilessly put to death. Over the next 
few years, many Armenians were murdered outright or were deported via 
forced marches under such agonizing conditions that they died from 
exhaustion or starvation before they reached their destination.
  At that time, the word ``genocide'' had not yet been coined. 
Nonetheless, many governments decried the mass murder of the Armenians 
as extermination of a people, a crime against humanity, and the murder 
of a nation.
  We must honor the truth of the past because denial makes it more 
likely that genocide will happen again. We must recognize and condemn 
the atrocities that took place against the Armenian people. The time 
has come to pass the Armenian Genocide Resolution. I urge my colleagues 
to support this important piece of legislation and give the Armenian 
people the respect and recognition they deserve.

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