[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5417]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   REMEMBERING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I join my other colleagues today to discuss 
one of the greatest unrecognized tragedies of the 20th Century, you 
have heard it by the previous speakers, that is the Armenian genocide.
  April 24th marks the 85th anniversary of the start of the first 
genocide of the 1900's. Before the Holocaust there was the Armenian 
genocide. It took place between 1915 and 1923 in the Ottoman Empire.
  In April of 1915, a weak Ottoman Empire ordered mass deportations of 
Armenians. This was carried out swiftly and systematically on official 
orders from the government of the Ottoman Empire. Forced marches 
resulted in the deaths of over 1 million Armenians. Armenian men of 
military age were rounded up, marched for several miles and shot dead 
throughout eastern Anatolia. Women, children, and the elderly, many 
subjected to rape, were forced to leave their homeland and move to 
relocation centers in the Syrian desert. During these long marches, no 
food, water, or shelter was provided. Many died of disease or 
exhaustion, and survivors were subjected to forcible conversion to 
Islam.
  The annihilation of such a large portion of Armenians in the Ottoman 
Empire led to the loss of many lives and the dream of an Armenian 
homeland. Surviving Armenians fled to the then Soviet Union, the United 
States, and other parts of the world in pursuit of their basic 
freedoms. Many Armenians live and work in my congressional district in 
San Diego. Their history and story need to be shared and embraced.
  Today, our NATO ally, Turkey, has repeatedly denied the execution of 
over 1 million Armenians. The denial of this atrocity has proved 
beneficial for Turkey's foreign policy. The murder of Armenians, a 
massacre based on cultural and religious beliefs, goes on officially 
unnoticed, and the United States maintains a favorable relationship and 
strategic partnership with Turkey.
  Mr. Speaker, because of these reasons, I have joined my colleagues in 
cosponsoring House Resolution 398, the United States Training on and 
Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Resolution. This resolution 
provides training and educational materials to all Foreign Service and 
State Department officials concerning the Armenian genocide.
  It is time for our country to stand up and recognize this tragic 
event. When Hitler conceived of the idea to exterminate the Jewish 
population, he noted the lack of consequences by saying, ``Who, after 
all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?''
  Mr. Speaker, today I and my colleagues speak of the annihilation of 
the Armenians, and we ask our other colleagues to join in this cause. 
The story of the Armenian genocide, the forgotten genocide, deserves to 
be told and understood. We owe it to the Armenians. We owe it to 
mankind.

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