[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H3582-H3583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               103RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Schiff) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, the world marked the 103rd 
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the systematic murder of 1.5 
million Armenians and the displacement of millions more in the Ottoman 
Empire from 1915 to 1923.
  In my district in Los Angeles, I joined tens of thousands of 
descendants of genocide survivors and others to march through the 
streets, a living testament to the resilience of the Armenian people. 
Yet, in our Nation's Capital, the White House and Congress were once 
again sadly silent, failing to properly recognize the genocide.
  More than a century after the Armenian Genocide, it is our solemn 
responsibility to remember those who were lost, to seek justice and 
restitution, and to educate Americans and the world about the crime of 
genocide.
  A recent poll of Americans found that the details of the Holocaust 
are increasingly fading from memory, particularly among younger 
generations. Two-thirds of millennials do not know what Auschwitz is or 
what happened there, and many others of all ages couldn't answer basic 
questions about the Holocaust. As someone who lost family members in 
the Holocaust, I find these results horrifying.
  There is no doubt that public understanding of the Armenian Genocide 
is far lower, and that is due, in part, to the silence of those who 
should be leading the conversation about it and to Turkey's nefarious 
campaign of denial.
  How many Americans know of Red Sunday, the day in 1915 in which 
Armenian leaders and intellectuals in Constantinople were rounded up to 
be sent to camps from which many would never return?
  How many know of the concentration camps in Deir ez-Zor, where 
Armenians were tortured, raped, and starved?
  How many Americans know that, in the years after the genocide, 
through

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the Near East Relief effort, the generosity of the American people 
saved the lives of thousands of survivors and helped secure the future 
of the Armenian people?
  And finally, how many Americans know that the Congress and the 
President have refused to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, 
intimidated into silence by Turkey?
  Turkey has invested heavily in the cause of denial, and to our shame, 
the U.S. Government has been intimidated into silence. Though Turkey 
remains a member of NATO, under the autocratic and repressive rule of 
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has become the leading jailer of 
journalists in the world and discussion of the genocide can bring 
criminal punishment.
  U.S. citizens have also been the victims of Erdogan's crackdown on 
free expression. Last year, Erdogan's security detail brutally 
assaulted peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C. Charges against 11 of 
the 15 Turkish nationals charged have been dropped, and there is little 
indication that Turkey will pay any diplomatic price for this attack.
  In northern Syria, where the United States has worked closely with 
partners to devastate ISIS, Turkey has chosen to place its paramount 
focus on fighting the Kurds, even launching a military offensive into 
Syria that threatens our own soldiers and those of our allies. Erdogan 
has even gone so far as to threaten the United States with an ``Ottoman 
slap.''
  These are not the actions of an ally. They are the actions of a 
nation that feels emboldened to act with indifference to the United 
States. And who can blame them? For over a quarter century, Presidents 
and Congresses of both parties have been bullied into genocide denial 
for fear Turkey will withdraw their already transactional and fleeting 
cooperation.
  It has never been in our national security interest to be complicit 
in another country's denial of human rights, let alone denial of 
genocide. It is time for America to speak plainly about the Armenian 
Genocide and the violation of human rights anywhere in the world.

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