[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 56 (Wednesday, April 18, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, the genocide of more than 1\1/2\ million 
Armenians by Ottoman-era Turkish authorities is an undeniable fact of 
history. In 1915, the Armenian nation which had resided in Anatolia for 
thousands of years was subjected to an organized barbarity that 
included death marches, drowning, and executions.
  Those who managed to survive these horrors scattered to the four 
corners of the Earth. Today, survivors of the Armenian genocide and 
their children and grandchildren bear witness to this massacre. Each 
year, Armenian Americans, supported by others who readily accept the 
teachings of history, renew their plea that the United States 
Government formally recognize the Armenian genocide, and every year 
that responsibility of recognition remains unfulfilled.

                              {time}  1010

  When faced with the deeply compelling research and scholarship 
surrounding the Armenian genocide, it is wholly untenable to assert 
that the genocide did not occur. Instead, many in Congress offer the 
protest that recognition would harm our relationship with Turkey and 
undermine our broader geostrategic interests. Others suggest weakly 
that it is just not the right time to push the issue of recognition. 
The result is the same--the continued failure on the part of the United 
States to do the right thing. This failure puts salt on the wounds of 
the Armenian people. But it does more than that. It corrodes the moral 
standing of our Nation as a whole.
  I join those who once again, at this time of annual remembrance, 
implore my fellow Members of Congress and President Obama to formally 
recognize the Armenian genocide.

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