[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 133 (Thursday, July 29, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H4253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING GENOCIDE OF ASSYRIANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Jackson Lee). The Chair recognizes the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Harder) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HARDER OF California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask if this 
body cares more about the hurt feelings of a dictator than the legacy 
of 300,000 innocent men, women, and children murdered in the only place 
they had ever called home.
  In 1914, the Ottoman Empire slaughtered more than 300,000 innocent 
Assyrians. Yet, 108 years later, this body has still not recognized 
that slaughter for what it was--a genocide.
  Growing up in the Central Valley, I was surrounded by our Assyrian 
community. I ate handmade dolmas with my Assyrian neighbor, Nana 
Bitpera, who was like a grandmother to me. She told me about the 
contributions of the Assyrian community to the modern world and 
explained the weight that her people have carried since that brutal 
massacre in 1914.
  Madam Speaker, that is why, today, I am leading a resolution to 
finally recognize the genocide of the Assyrians in the Middle East. My 
resolution commemorates August 7, Shova b'tabakh, as Assyrian Genocide 
Memorial Day. It asserts that Turkey, the inheritor of the Ottoman 
tradition, must recognize the genocide. It recognizes the resilience of 
the Assyrian people, who, after they taught the world how to build 
cities, how to domesticate crops, endured the cruelest kind of event 
history can provide only to spread out across our globe and keep their 
traditions alive today.
  This body should stand for the right of all people to live freely and 
in safety, and that starts by recognizing the history and perseverance 
of the Assyrian people.
  Madam Speaker, today, I urge our House leadership to bring this 
resolution directly to the floor. Anything else is unacceptable.

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