[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 60 (Thursday, April 23, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E949-E950]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. TIMOTHY J. WALZ

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 23, 2009

  Mr. WALZ. I rise in sadness today and also in hope, as we commemorate 
the Armenian genocide that happened in the second decade of the 
twentieth century.
  There is nothing easier than to forget the victims of history, and 
nothing more tragic, and for those very reasons, there is nothing more 
important than to remember them. And that is what we are here for.
  The genocide of the Armenian people is a fact of history. It is a sad 
fact of history.
  But the very fact that we are here, together in the U.S. House of 
Representatives addressing the issue is reason for hope. Armenians' 
determination to carry on, and in the United States' historic support 
for them, and in our joined determination to make sure that we 
recognize the facts of history--there is great humanity and hope.
  I remain committed to the public recognition of the fact of the 
Armenian genocide. It is the only way to make sure we are forever 
vigilant to prevent genocide in the future.
  I have hope, that we can all move forward, not in an exercise in 
collective guilt, but in the simple recognition of what happened, that 
a genocide was perpetrated upon the Armenian people, and that such a 
thing, quite simply, never should have happened and must never happen 
again.

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