[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 60 (Thursday, April 23, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H2453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HONOR THEIR MEMORY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes) is 
recognized for the remainder of the hour as the designee of the 
minority leader.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, on April 24, the arc of the moral universe 
will intersect with the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. 
Many will bear witness to that intersection, but sadly, official 
recognition of the genocide by the United States Government will be 
conspicuously absent.
  Let us review the facts. In 1915, more than 1.5 million Armenians 
were systematically annihilated by Ottoman-era Turkish authorities. 
Men, women, and children were massacred, deported, and condemned to 
death marches into the Syrian Desert, where they died of thirst and 
starvation--no final rights, no burial, an assault on the dignity of a 
dignified and proud people.
  This indisputable tragedy of history has been acknowledged by 
innumerable scholars and historians, including the International 
Association of Genocide Scholars, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for 
Humanity, and no less than 53 Nobel laureates. The European Parliament 
and Pope Francis recently joined the chorus that honestly labels this 
horrific chapter of Turkey's history a genocide.
  Hopelessly infected by the disease of denial, modern-day Turkish 
authorities have now made it clear they were never going to acknowledge 
the 100th anniversary of the genocide with anything approaching candor, 
honesty, or the most minimal degree of self-reflection.
  It heaps insult upon injury that they have chosen the genocide 
anniversary of April 24 to commemorate something wholly different, the 
100th anniversary of the landing of British imperial forces at 
Gallipoli, a landing that actually occurred the next day, on April 25, 
1915.
  Turkey's treatment of the Armenian genocide is no surprise. It is a 
conditioned reflex that has been codified into the laws of the state. 
In Turkey, anyone who uses the word ``genocide'' to describe the 
massacre of the Armenians is subject to criminal punishment under 
article 301 of the Turkish penal code.
  Obviously, we should have dramatically higher expectations for our 
own country. That is the reason that, as a Member of Congress who has 
long supported a resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide, I have 
dreaded the prospect that the 100th anniversary would come and go 
without official recognition from either the United States Congress or 
the President of the United States.
  I share the deep disappointment and sense of betrayal felt by the 
Armenian people and all who support their cause. It is lamentable that, 
on Capitol Hill, advocacy for recognition is being undermined every day 
by Turkey's intense lobbying campaign to block passage of the Armenian 
genocide resolution.
  In the face of this, it is easy to be cynical and angry, but we 
should remind ourselves and be inspired that, on April 24, hundreds of 
thousands of Americans will defy the lack of official recognition with 
their own personal and heartfelt acknowledgment of the Armenian 
genocide.
  In Turkey, there are brave citizens who, at great personal risk, 
condemn state authorities for their tragic silence. Ultimately, the 
voices of individual citizens have a special power to move the heart, 
in this instance, to bless the unmarked graves of 1.5 million Armenians 
whose own voices and spirits were trampled into the ground 100 years 
ago.
  This year, I will resist the temptation to mark the anniversary of 
the Armenian genocide with anger and frustration at the lack of 
official recognition from those who should know better; rather, I will 
draw strength from the conviction that the arc of the moral universe 
will ultimately bend toward justice, toward the eternal memory of those 
who perished in this undeniable tragedy of history.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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