[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 17, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H2451-H2452]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            COMMEMORATING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Eshoo) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, as the only Member of Congress of Armenian-
Assyrian descent, I rise to commemorate Armenian Genocide Remembrance 
Day, which will be observed next week by the Armenian community in the 
United States and around the world.
  On this solemn occasion, we remember the 1.5 million Armenians and 
hundreds of thousands of Assyrians, Greeks, Chaldeans, Syriacs, 
Arameans, and Maronites who were systematically slaughtered by the 
Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. What all the victims had in 
common is that they were Christians, and among them members of my own 
family.
  To honor my ancestors and all who perished, I worked with so many 
other Members for nearly three decades to pass a resolution recognizing 
the Armenian genocide. For many years, the conventional wisdom in 
Washington was that a misguided policy of genocide denial served U.S. 
geopolitical interests.
  However, thanks to the determined advocacy of the Armenian-American 
community, we overcame this entrenched opposition, and in October 2019, 
the resolution passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 405-11, ending 
over 100 years of official U.S. silence. As the vote total was 
announced, I thought my parents, grandparents, and extended family were 
applauding from Heaven.
  Now nearly 5 years later, it is important to acknowledge that the 
fears of the resolution's detractors never materialized.
  Rather than diminishing America's standing in the world, our 
recognition of the Armenian genocide has done the opposite: 
strengthening American global leadership by affirming our commitment to 
human rights. I am proud of the progress we have made, but we have more 
work to do to combat the lasting effects of genocide denial, which has 
left many Americans unaware of this dark chapter of history.
  My legislation, the Armenian Genocide Education Act, addresses this 
issue by establishing a program within the Library of Congress to 
develop educational resources on the Armenian genocide to be used in 
American schools.
  With nearly 90 cosponsors, this legislation is the most cosponsored 
bipartisan bill pending before the House Administration Committee. I 
urge Chairman Steil and Ranking Member Morelle to report this bill out 
of committee as soon as possible. I am confident that it would pass 
with a large bipartisan vote when it comes to the floor of the House. 
This bill is critical because it is so often said that those who forget 
history are doomed to repeat it.
  Alarmingly, it felt as if history were repeating itself last 
September when Azerbaijan perpetuated an ethnic cleansing campaign 
against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh that bore a disturbing 
resemblance to the mass displacements committed by Ottoman forces a 
century ago. This atrocity was preceded by a grueling blockade that 
deprived civilians of food, medicine, and other essentials for over 9 
months, bringing them to their knees.
  We must not wait another century to hold Azerbaijan accountable for 
the crimes it has committed against the Armenian people. That is why I 
once again call on the State Department to end U.S. military aid to 
Azerbaijan, sanction Azerbaijani officials for human rights abuses, and 
provide desperately needed aid for the 120,000 Armenians who were 
forced from their homes at gunpoint last year.
  The best way to honor the legacies of those who perished in the 
Armenian genocide is by using our voices to prevent atrocities today.

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