[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 56 (Friday, April 15, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ARMENIA REMEMBRANCE DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DOUG LAMBORN

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 15, 2011

  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, on April 24, 2011, the world will 
commemorate Armenian Remembrance Day and remember the one-and-a-half 
million Armenians that endured unspeakable suffering and loss at the 
hand of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
  In addition to the loss of so many Armenian lives, the twentieth 
century also bore witness to the loss of six-million Jews and four-
hundred thousand other persons deemed ``non-desirable'' by the Nazis, 
the loss of millions of lives in Russia and in China by communist 
tyrannies, and modern day horrors in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Darfur. All 
too often, we have not learned from past genocides. As the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights states ``No one shall be subjected to 
torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment'' and 
that ``Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of 
person.''
  Though nothing changes the fact that mass killings and unspeakable 
acts of brutality occurred, today I wish to learn from the past to 
better bring about hope for a brighter, more peaceful future and 
reconciliation of the people of Armenia and Turkey.
  Only with a thorough examination of history and open acknowledgement 
of the past will the plight of the Armenians be fully understood.
  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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