[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 57 (Wednesday, April 24, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H2251-H2252]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            IN MEMORY OF THOSE LOST IN THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Schiff) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I would like to say the following in 
Armenian to my Armenian friends:
  Sireli hai paragamneres, hos yev ashkharee chors goghmereh. Aysor, 
Haiots Tseghasbahnootian inisoonoot erort darelitseen oreh, khoskes 
googhem tsezi Neriguyatsusichneroo Don ambiyonen, tser medzhaireh loon 
lezvov.
  Lezoo muh vorov anonk gardahaideyeen irents hooysereh, gyankeh, 
yeraznereh, yev sereh hazar inuh hairoor dasnuhinkee naxortogh 
darineroon.
  Osmanyan Guysrutian daradzkin, dasnyag hazaravorner chartehvetsan.
  Tsezi guh khoseem lezvovuh ayn yerexaneroon voronk aganadess yeghan 
irents hayreru spanootyan.
  Hazaravor geener pernaparvetsan.
  Tsezi guh khoseem lezvovuh anonts toosdreroon, voronk koot 
gugherseyeen toork vosdiganneren.
  Tsezi guh khoseem lezvovuh ayn yerekhaneroon, voronk gateel muh choor 
gugherseyeen.
  Tsezi guh khoseem lezvovuh ayn myreroon, voronk mahatsahn irents 
noradzeenneruh irents keergeroon mech.
  Tsezi guh khoseem lezvovuh ayn verabroghneroon, voronk Amereega yegan 
azadootyooneth vaylelu yev nor gyank muh usguseloo hamar.
  Kuhreteh meg tareh eever, toorkia goorana tsaghasbanootyooneh. 
Toorkiah goozeh, vor ashkharuh morna ays maseen.
  Tsezi guh khoseem lezvovuh anonts, voronk ayleves chegan. Anonk 
mezmeh guh khentren heeshell zeerenk. Anonts tsaynereh dagaveen guh 
lesveen.
  Yes ays nahadagneren voyeveh megoon hednortuh chem, sagayn tsezi guh 
khoseem irents keghetseeg lezvov, vorovhedev aysor, polores hai enk!
  Tsezi guh khoseem ays vayren, Nerguyatsutsichneroo Don ambiyonen 
vorovhedev Amerigatsi joghovurteh meeshd jagaden yez kachootyamp nayadz 
eh polor sarsapneroon oo zanonk gochadz eh irents poon anoonov.
  Guh sbasem ayn orvan, yerp ir ghegavarnereh yeves nooynuh beedee 
unnen. Vorovhedev yes vuhsdah em, vor ayt oruh beedee kah. Guh sbasem 
vor chooshanah, vorbesi verabroghneruh luhsen anor tsentseech tsignuh.
  Asdvadz mer tsignuh luhseh.
  (English translation of the above statement is as follows:)
  To my Armenian friends: Today, on the 98th anniversary of the 
genocide day, I speak to you in the language of your grandparents and 
your great grandparents--the language they used to speak of their 
hopes, their dreams, their loves in the years before 1915.
  By the time it was over in 1923, more than 1.5 million Armenians--
men, women and children--were dead. It was the first genocide of the 
20th Century.
  I speak to you in the language of the mothers who died with their 
babies in their arms.
  Throughout the Ottoman Empire, tens of thousands were killed 
outright. Others were force marched through desert heat as the Ottoman 
government sought to destroy a people.
  I speak to you in the language of the children begging for a drop of 
water.
  Women were raped by the thousands.
  I speak to you in the language of the girls begging the gendarmes for 
mercy.

[[Page H2252]]

  A nation was scattered around the world. To the Middle East, to 
Europe and to America.
  I speak to you in the language of the survivors who came to America 
for freedom and made a new life.
  For almost a century, Turkey has denied the genocide. In the face of 
overwhelming evidence--much of it from American diplomats and 
journalists--Ankara has denied that the genocide ever happened. They 
want the world to forget.
  I speak to you in the language of those who were lost. Their voices 
drift across the decades--begging us to not forget them, no matter how 
hard some people try.
  I am not Armenian, but I speak to you in your language because on 
this day we are all Armenian. For many years I have sat with you and 
listened--to the stories of those who were lost in the genocide and 
those who survived.
  I speak to you in their language and yours to thank you for sharing 
your history with me and to pledge again that I will not stop fighting 
until the United States lives up to its principles by honoring and 
commemorating the Armenian Genocide.
  And because I know that day will come. May it come soon, so the last 
of the survivors may hear its awesome sound.
  May God hear our voices.

                          ____________________