[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 58 (Thursday, April 25, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

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                         HON. JOHN P. SARBANES

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 25, 2013

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the memory of the 
innocents that perished in 1915 during the Armenian Genocide.
   With a systematic barbarism visited upon them, countless Armenians 
made their way to Syria seeking refuge from persecution. Today, the 
world is aghast at the horrific violence engulfing Syria and the 
Armenian people are once again threatened with upheaval and 
dislocation.
   Each year, the United States Congress has the opportunity to stand 
with justice and recognize the Armenian Genocide. Such action would 
fortify America's moral standing in the family of nations and send a 
strong message to our NATO ally Turkey that it must examine the dark 
chapters of its past and the discriminatory impulses of its present.
   Turkey has repeatedly thwarted efforts by Congress and successive 
administrations to recognize the Armenian Genocide by threatening all 
manner of retaliation should recognition be accorded. I submit that we 
do no favors to Turkey by acquiescing in its cynical campaign. Turkey's 
path to the European Union, its abysmal relations with its ethnic and 
religious minorities, particularly its violent conflict with the 
Kurdish people, would all improve if the Armenian Genocide was 
addressed openly and honestly.
   As we approach the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 
2015, it is time for the United States to formally recognize this 
tragic chapter in world history and to bring some measure of peace and 
healing to those of Armenian descent.

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