[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 57 (Wednesday, April 24, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H2257]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               98TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  (Mr. VALADAO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on the 98th anniversary of the 
initiation of the Armenian genocide in order to commemorate a moment in 
history inflicting wounds still fresh for many constituents in my 
congressional district.
  From 1915 to 1923, the Ottoman Empire engaged in the systematic and 
organized deportation and extermination of over 2 million Armenians 
from their homeland. Although exact records were not kept, it is 
estimated that nearly 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children 
were killed and that many were permanently displaced or forced to flee. 
These horrific events have become known today as the Armenian genocide.
  Many of those able to flee emigrated to the United States and settled 
in California. Today, their families continue to grow, thrive, and pass 
along their cultural heritage into their adopted communities. However, 
the sense of loss as a result of these horrific acts runs deep as many 
Armenian Americans personally know a friend or a family member who was 
unable to escape the genocide.
  Despite the horrors of this time and broad international consensus 
that these events are rightly identified as ``genocide,'' the foreign 
policy of the United States refuses to acknowledge what so many already 
know to be true. Today, let us recognize and remember the 2 million 
Armenians whose lives were lost or forever changed by these tragic 
events.

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