[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]
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
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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.