[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 22, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S2349]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ARMENIAN GENOCIDE 100TH ANNIVERSARY

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I rise to commemorate the 100th 
anniversary of the Armenian genocide, widely recognized as the first 
genocide of the 20th century.
  April 24, 1915 marked the beginning of a horrific period in our 
world's history and for the Armenian people. On this day, agents of the 
Ottoman Empire rounded up and executed Armenian community leaders, 
poets, and intellectuals. What ensued was the systematic extermination 
of 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children at the hands of the 
Ottoman Turkish government. From 1915 to 1923, the world witnessed the 
attempted destruction of the Armenian people for no reason other than 
their very existence.
  Unfortunately, the events surrounding the Armenian genocide are 
fraught with denial. But the case is simple. When Raphael Lemkin coined 
the term ``genocide'' in the 1940s, he had what happened to the 
Armenians in mind as a definitive example.
  Those who perished experienced some of the worst aspects of humanity. 
But the campaign to exterminate the Armenian people failed. And those 
who survived embodied the best qualities of the human spirit: hope, 
resilience, perseverance, and love. Some survivors made their way to 
America, and many of them built their new lives in Michigan. They have 
created thriving communities, built businesses, raised families, and 
contributed to the fabric of what makes the State of Michigan so great. 
Their descendants carry on these values, and the richness of their 
culture is part of what gives vibrancy to our State.
  The Armenians in Michigan boast a community of well over 20,000. It 
is the largest in the Midwest, and I am proud to represent them. To 
commemorate the 100th anniversary, Michigan's Armenian community has 
organized a number of events, lectures, art exhibits, concerts, and 
vigils to remember the victims of the genocide, to educate their 
communities, and to look to the future. I applaud their efforts to 
preserve their culture and identity.
  Over the last century, the Armenians of Michigan erected churches, 
established community centers, and built a day school. They also 
founded educational centers such as the Armenian Research Center at the 
University of Michigan-Dearborn. International language and linguistics 
courses at Wayne State University are located in Manoogian Hall, which 
was named after the notable Detroit-Armenian philanthropist and 
businessman Alex Manoogian. These are just part of the Armenian 
community's contributions to Michigan.
  While Armenians have found prosperity in their new home, they have 
not forgotten those who did not live to see what the future held for 
their people. Many of Michigan's Armenian community members have 
written books and recorded accounts of what happened to their families 
in 1915 in an effort to shed light and increase awareness. These 
stories will carry on for generations, and remind us all that if we do 
not recognize the atrocities of the past we risk blinding ourselves to 
the atrocities that could still occur today.
  Charging toward a peaceful future requires making peace with the 
past. Denial does not serve our American values. Denial minimizes the 
great tragedy that fell upon the victims, the survivors, and their 
descendants. Over 40 States have affirmed the Armenian genocide, 
including Michigan. I have called on, and will continue to call on, the 
President to formally recognize that the atrocities committed against 
the Armenian people were in fact genocide.
  Recognition of the Armenian genocide is long overdue. A crime like 
this casts a long shadow. This shadow can be conquered only by light--
the light of truth that comes from fully acknowledging the full scale 
of the horror that the Armenians endured.

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