[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 21, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H4328]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE DAY

  (Mr. LAMBORN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate Armenian Remembrance 
Day and remember the 1.5 million Armenians annihilated during the final 
years of the Ottoman Empire, to recognize the 60th anniversary of the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to reflect on the continuing 
violence in places like Darfur, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
  In addition to the genocide of Armenians, the 20th Century bore 
witness to the loss of 6 million Jews and 400,000 other persons deemed 
``nondesirable'' by the Nazis and the modern-day horrors in Cambodia 
and Rwanda. Unfortunately, and all too often, we have not learned from 
past genocides. A vicious circle of noninvolvement and noninterference 
continues.
  Today I wish to recall the past in order to bring about hope for a 
brighter, more peaceful future and reconciliation of the people of 
Armenia and Turkey. Only through a thorough examination of history and 
open acknowledgment of the past will the plight of the Armenians be 
fully understood.
  And as we continue confronting atrocities taking place today and seek 
to prevent them from occurring in the future, we must also be resolute 
in acknowledging genocides of the past.

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