[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 19, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, 108 years ago on April 24, 1915, 
Ottoman Turkey began the systematic killing and deportation of Armenian 
intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. Between 1915 and 
1923, an estimated 1-and-a-half million Armenians fell victim to one of 
history's most ruthless and notorious genocides. Most who survived 
eventually emigrated to different parts of the world, forming a 
widespread diaspora. The American people have a proud history of 
recognizing and condemning the Armenian genocide and have provided 
relief and a new home to many of the Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, 
Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians who 
survived this campaign of mass extermination. Today, Armenian Americans 
are a vital part of the cultural fabric of the United States.
  As we commemorate this dark period, I would encourage my colleagues 
to remember that atrocities like the Armenian genocide are almost never 
spontaneous events. They typically follow a period of human rights 
violations, discrimination, and violence against specific groups who 
often share a racial, ethnic, religious, or social identity. Most 
recently, we have seen this in the Chinese Communist Party's inhumane 
treatment of ethnic minorities, including the persecution of Uyghurs, 
Tibetans, and Mongolians and dissenters in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, 
and further abroad. Our foreign policy should recognize this, fight 
denialism of past and current crimes, and emphasize the preservation of 
human rights rather than relying on eleventh hour action that comes far 
too late for vulnerable populations.
  On behalf of all Tennesseans, I offer this solemn recognition of the 
Armenian genocide and ask my colleagues to join me in pledging to fight 
the forces of evil still causing so much pain and suffering around the 
globe.

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