[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 194 (Thursday, December 5, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6873-S6875]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the Duncan nomination.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Robert 
M. Duncan, of Kentucky, to be a Governor of the United States Postal 
Service for a term expiring December 8, 2025. (Reappointment)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.


                 Unanimous Consent Request--S. Res. 150

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I come to the floor again to seek 
unanimous consent for a resolution that commemorates the Armenian 
genocide.
  In October, the House of Representatives passed a version of this 
resolution by a vote of 405 to 11--405 to 11. This vote was historic, 
and I applaud the bipartisan courage of those in the House to stand up 
for what is right.
  For those here in the Senate who would consider objecting to this 
request, I urge you to think long and hard about what it means for your 
reputation, what it means for history, and what it means for the Senate 
as an institution. History is watching, and it will not look kindly on 
those who object to recognizing genocide.
  In recent speeches before the Senate, I have laid out the case for 
why we must move forward on this resolution.

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The simple threshold question for this body comes to this: Do we 
recognize a clear case of genocide when it happens, or do we let a 
country like Turkey determine our own views, determine our own sense of 
history, determine our own moral obligation, and determine the public 
record--a Turkey that today is committing atrocities against the Kurds 
in Syria, a Turkey that has teamed up with Russia and the Kremlin in 
purchasing the S-400 air defense system and just recently used it 
against an American F-16 to see if it works, and a Turkey that works to 
block forward movement in NATO on key national security objectives of 
the United States?
  At what point do we say enough is enough? At what point do we simply 
move forward and acknowledge the truth? The truth is that the Armenian 
genocide happened. It is a fact. To deny that is to deny one of the 
monstrous acts of history. This denial is a stain on the Senate and our 
country. We have an opportunity to right that wrong and put the U.S. 
Senate on the right side of history.
  Let's again review some of that history here today. More than 104 
years ago, the Ottoman Empire launched a systemic campaign to 
exterminate the Armenian population through killings, forced 
deportations, starvation, and other brutal matters. How do we know 
this? How do we know this? Because U.S. diplomats were there. They 
wrote it down and sent it back to the State Department in Washington.
  Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1913 
to 1916, wrote this in his memoir:

       When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these 
     deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a 
     whole race; they understood this well, and, in their 
     conversations with me, they made no particular attempt to 
     conceal this fact. . . . I am confident that the whole 
     history of the human race contains no such horrible episode 
     as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past 
     seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of 
     the Armenian race in 1915.

  That is what Henry Morgenthau said.
  On June 5, 1915, the U.S. consul in Aleppo, Jesse Jackson, wrote to 
Ambassador Morgenthau, saying:

       There is a living stream of Armenians pouring into Aleppo 
     from the surrounding towns and villages.
       The [Ottoman] Government has been appealed to by various 
     prominent people and even by those in authority to put an end 
     to these conditions, under the representations that it can 
     only lead to the greatest blame and reproach, but all to no 
     avail. It is without doubt a carefully planned scheme to 
     thoroughly extinguish the Armenian race.

  On July 24, 1915, in a report to Ambassador Morgenthau, the U.S. 
consul in Harput, Leslie Davis, stated: ``Any doubt that may have been 
expressed in previous reports as to the Government's intention in 
sending away the Armenians have been removed. . . . It has been no 
secret that the plan was to destroy the Armenian race as a race. . . . 
Everything was apparently planned months ago.
  In an October 1, 1916 telegram to Secretary of State Robert Lansing, 
U.S. Charge d'Affaires Hoffman Philip wrote, ``The Department is in 
receipt of ample details demonstrating the horrors of the anti-Armenian 
campaign. For many months past I have felt that the most efficacious 
method of dealing with the situation from an international standpoint 
would be to flatly threaten to withdraw our Diplomatic Representative 
from a country where such barbarous methods are not only tolerated but 
actually carried out by order of the existing government.''
  And finally, Abram I. Elkus, who served as the United States 
Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1916-17, telegrammed the 
Secretary of State on October 17, 1916, stating ``In order to avoid 
opprobrium of the civilized world, which the continuation of massacres 
[of the Armenians] would arouse, Turkish officials have now adopted and 
are executing the unchecked policy of extermination through starvation, 
exhaustion, and brutality of treatment hardly surpassed even in Turkish 
history.''
  That continues to verify that these diplomats saw the truth with 
their own eyes and communicated back to their superiors in Washington. 
They did their job, and the historical record proves it. Now it is up 
to individual U.S. Senators to do your job.
  The Government of Turkey has funded lobbyists willing to trumpet lies 
and make excuses for these atrocities. The Turkish Government and its 
sympathizers have advocated for restrictive laws on expression and 
against legislation that recognizes the Armenian genocide. They will 
stop at nothing to bury the truth. I hope that individual Senators will 
not once again fall for it.
  Any apprehension, any trepidation on the part of Senators who believe 
this resolution will somehow do irreparable harm to our relationship 
with Turkey is simply unfounded. Twenty-seven countries have recognized 
the genocide in one form or another. Some saw trade increases in Turkey 
following their recognition. Twelve members of NATO have recognized the 
genocide. They still work with Turkey on defense issues. They still 
have embassies in Ankara. Their relationships were not irreparably 
harmed. Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, 
Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, and the Slovak 
Republic all did the right thing.

  I say to my friends and colleagues that genocide is genocide. 
Senators in this body should have the simple courage to say it plainly, 
say it clearly, and say it without reservation.
  In every session of Congress since 2006, I have introduced or 
cosponsored resolutions affirming the facts of the Armenian genocide. 
When I was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I was 
proud to preside over the passage of an Armenian genocide resolution 
out of the committee.
  The work continues here today. If we are not successful this 
afternoon, I know we are not going to stop until we are. I am not going 
to stop until I go through every single Senator who is willing to come 
to the floor and issue an objection on behalf of the administration 
because I think Armenian Americans need to know who stands in support 
of recognizing the genocide and who opposes it.
  I thank Senator Cruz for joining me in this effort. He has been 
stalwart with me in this bipartisan resolution. I thank the 27 
additional Senators who have been willing to stand up for a true, 
clear-eyed vision: Senators Van Hollen, Rubio, Stabenow, Gardner, 
Markey, Cornyn, Warren, Romney, Peters, Portman, Feinstein, Wyden, 
Duckworth, Reed, Schumer, Udall, Harris, Whitehouse, Sanders, 
Klobuchar, Cardin, Booker, Casey, Bennet, Rosen, Brown, and Cortez 
Masto. I thank them all.
  Before I ask unanimous consent, I yield to my colleague from Texas.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Young). The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I am proud to join with my colleague from 
New Jersey today in urging the Senate to take up and pass the 
bipartisan Menendez-Cruz resolution affirming U.S. recognition of the 
Armenian genocide.
  From 1915 to 1923, the Ottoman Empire carried out a forced 
deportation of nearly 2 million Armenians, of whom 1.5 million were 
killed. It was an atrocious genocide. That it happened is a fact and an 
undeniable reality. In fact, the very word ``genocide,'' which 
literally means the killing of an entire people, was coined by Raphael 
Lemkin to describe the horrific nature of the Ottoman Empire's 
calculated extermination of the Armenians.
  We must never be silenced in response to atrocities. Over 100 years 
ago, the world was silent as the Armenian people suffered and were 
murdered, and many people today are still unaware of what happened.
  With this resolution, we are saying that it is the policy of the 
United States of America to commemorate the Armenian genocide through 
official recognition and remembrance. We have a moral duty to 
acknowledge what happened to 1.5 million innocent souls. It is the 
right thing to do.
  I certainly understand the concerns of some of my colleagues who 
worry that this resolution could irreversibly poison the U.S.-Turkey 
relationship and push Turkey into the arms of Russia, but I don't 
believe those concerns have any sound basis.
  As my colleague from New Jersey pointed out, 12 NATO nations have 
similarly recognized the Armenian genocide. Yes, Turkey is a NATO ally, 
but allies can speak the truth to each other. We should never be afraid 
to tell the truth, and alliances grounded in lies are themselves 
unsustainable. Additionally, in the coming days, the Foreign Relations 
Committee will be

[[Page S6875]]

marking up an enormous package of sanctions on Turkey.
  The horse has left the barn. There is no good reason for the 
administration to object to this resolution, and the effect of doing so 
is to deny recognition of this chilling moment of history.
  Let me close by echoing the optimism the Senator from New Jersey 
expressed. We may well see an objection here today, as we did when 
Senator Menendez and I previously came to the Senate floor and sought 
to pass this just a couple of weeks ago, but I believe that in the 
coming days and weeks, we will get this passed and that this objection, 
I hope, will be only temporary. I look forward to the day--hopefully 
very, very soon--when all 100 Senators, Democrats and Republicans, are 
united in simply speaking the truth, recognizing the genocide that 
occurred, and making perfectly clear that America stands against 
genocide.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Texas for his 
eloquent statement and for his forthrightness on this issue.
  As in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of 
S. Res. 150 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I 
further ask that the resolution be agreed to, that the preamble be 
agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and 
laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I don't 
think there is a single Member of the U.S. Senate who doesn't have 
serious concerns about Turkey's behavior both historically and 
currently. In fact, I support the spirit of this resolution. I suspect 
99 of my colleagues do. At the right time, we may pass it, as Senator 
Cruz has stated; however, I don't think this is the right time. If 
there is a right time, this certainly isn't it. It is largely because 
just hours ago, our President returned from the NATO summit in London 
with NATO leaders, where this was a topic of discussion with the 
leadership from Turkey--this being the acknowledgement of genocide, as 
well as the purchase of the S-400.
  I want to have a clear readout of the President's interaction and 
discussion with President Erdogan and our delegation's negotiations 
with Turkey before adopting this resolution. I don't think we can take 
the risk of undermining the complex and ongoing diplomatic efforts 
which are in our national security interests as a country.
  I, too, want to be on the right side of history. I believe we will be 
on the right side of history, but these negotiations that the President 
is currently in are a part of getting on the right side of history.
  I appreciate the ongoing conversations and still hope we will be able 
to overcome the challenges in the bilateral relationship with Turkey. 
We know what these challenges are, and we all share the goal of seeing 
them appropriately addressed, but there is no good alternative right 
now. In my view, adoption of this resolution today is unnecessary and 
might very well undermine that diplomatic effort at a key time.
  I do not intend to continuously object to this resolution, but I 
believe it is appropriate for me to do so at this time, so I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, once again, I am deeply disappointed. 
This is the third time a Republican Senator has come to the floor to 
object to the genocide resolution--the recognition of the genocide 
resolution. There is never a good time. There is never a good time. In 
my view, there is always the right time, however, to recognize genocide 
as genocide.
  My colleague from North Dakota actually sponsored H. Res. 220, the 
Armenian genocide resolution, affirming ``the proper commemoration and 
consistent condemnation of the Armenian Genocide will strengthen our 
international standing in preventing modern-day genocides'' when he was 
a Member of the House of Representatives. He was right then. He was 
right then. The time was right then, and the time is right now.
  President Erdogan was here in the United States a couple of weeks 
ago. There was a meeting at the White House. A few of my colleagues had 
the privilege of joining the President expressing their discontent. 
Erdogan was given options--a way out of the dilemma that Turkey has put 
themselves in with the S-400. Basically, they were told either return 
to Russia and destroy them in our presence and/or give them to us, 
which, of course, Russia will never allow that to happen, for us to 
have their technology.
  There was a deadline. It was yesterday. I waited until today to make 
sure that in fact we wouldn't intercede in any way with that 
possibility. Turkey, in the interim, while this is going on, they used 
the S-400 to fire at an F-16 to see if they could take it down. Really? 
Really?
  So this premise that there was a meeting in NATO--well, there was a 
meeting in Washington, and then there was a meeting in NATO. They still 
haven't done anything on the S-400. They still haven't exercised any of 
the options that have been given to them.
  I just want my colleagues to know that I intend to come once a week 
to the Senate floor, and all those who want to be listed on the wrong 
side of history, they have the option of doing so. I am not going to 
cease until we do what is morally and principally right, and that is to 
recognize the Armenian genocide as a host of other nations have done as 
well.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.