[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 60 (Thursday, April 23, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E962-E963]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       ON THE NINETY-FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 23, 2009

  Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 
94th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and to call, once again, for 
the immediate passage of the Affirmation of the United States Record on 
the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
  Between 1915 and 1923, a campaign conceived and executed by the 
Ottoman Empire forcibly deported nearly 2 million Armenians from their 
homes, resulting in the deaths of perhaps one and a half million 
innocents. While the target of this genocide was the Armenian people, 
it was indeed a crime against all of humanity. Today, I would like to 
ask this House to remember this great crime, and to commit ourselves 
once again to the absolute abolishment of genocide wherever it is 
committed.
  The history surrounding this issue is clear. Genocide did occur, and 
ushered in what was to become possibly the most war-torn century of 
human history.
  This House has had before it, for many years now, a resolution which 
properly affirms the United States record on the Armenian Genocide. I 
have been a strong supporter and cosponsor of this resolution every 
Congress, and I remain so today. It is long past time for this Congress 
to pass this resolution, which in the 111th Congress has been 
introduced as H. Res. 252.
  The term ``genocide'' had not yet been coined in 1915, when the first 
Armenians were driven from their homes. The definition of this most 
profound crime against humanity came in 1944 from Raphael Lemkin, a 
Polish Jew who survived the Holocaust by fleeing to America after the 
fall of Warsaw to the Nazis. In the wake of World War Two, in which 
most of his family was lost in Hitler's genocide against the Jews, 
Lemkin led the international community to establish the United Nations 
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. Lemkin's 
definitive example of genocide? The crimes against the Armenians.
  April is Genocide Prevention Month, and it is only right that we have 
set aside a period of time every year to reflect upon the horrors of 
the crime of genocide and to rededicate ourselves to ridding the earth 
of this scourge. And even as we commemorate the Armenian Genocide, we 
must also recognize the other crimes being committed today, and 
redouble

[[Page E963]]

our efforts to stop them. Genocide is occurring today in the scorched 
towns of Darfur, in western Sudan. The genocide in Darfur is not new, 
the crimes of the Sudanese government and its militia allies are well 
known to all of us here. As with the Armenian Genocide, there is no 
factual debate about what is happening in Darfur. It is genocide. It is 
a crime against humanity. And it must stop immediately.
  While much of this debate has been repeated year after year, this 
year we find ourselves in a particularly hopeful moment in regards to 
this decades-old conflict about what happened to the Armenians in the 
early 20th century. Just yesterday, the governments of Armenia and 
Turkey announced that, after a year of intensive talks mediated by the 
government of Switzerland and encouraged by the Obama administration, 
they have ``agreed on a comprehensive framework for the normalization 
of their bilateral relations.'' This joint statement is an extremely 
important step for Armenia and Turkey, and I commend both countries and 
their political leadership for the courage they are showing today. The 
people of Armenia and Turkey have lived far too long with their 
bilateral relations in a state of suspended animation. It is time for 
these two proud countries to stand together, in acknowledgement of the 
difficulties of the past, with confidence that old wounds can be 
healed, and with a profound commitment to a better future.
  Madam Speaker, I call upon this House once again to pass H. Res. 252, 
the Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide 
Resolution. I thank all of my colleagues for commemorating the 94th 
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and joining together to reaffirm 
our commitment to end the crime of genocide wherever it is found. And 
on this spring day, at a time of rebirth and renewal, I commend Armenia 
and Turkey on the steps they are taking to fully normalize their 
bilateral relations, and I urge them to complete this process as soon 
as possible.

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