[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 59 (Tuesday, April 24, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  COMMEMORATING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 24, 2012

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, today, we gather to remember the genocide 
against the Armenian people. Although the generation that experienced 
these atrocities has passed, their suffering has been prolonged by the 
continued efforts to silence their cries and deny that a genocide 
occurred.
  When words can help bring comfort to those who suffer, silence 
isolates and inflicts pain. When time marches forward and history 
becomes more distant, silence erodes the memory of those who were lost. 
When affirmation and recognition could prevent such a tragedy from 
being repeated, silence allows the perpetrators of genocide to assume 
their actions will meet neither obstacle nor objection. Thus, the 
ongoing efforts of the Turkish leadership to silence discussion of the 
Armenian genocide inflict yet another cruelty.
  We owe it to the victims of the Armenian genocide, the survivors and 
their descendants to resist such censorship. That is why I am an 
original cosponsor of H. Res. 304, a resolution to reaffirm the United 
States historical record on the Armenian genocide and our own 
government's bold role protesting the atrocities as they unfolded.
  Genocide is not a unique feature of the 20th century, a momentary 
aberration of human morality. Genocides have continued to occur in the 
21st century, and today, we are reminded of our moral obligation to 
speak out and take action to stop such atrocities and the immense 
repercussions of our choices.
  Today, we will not be silent.

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