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



                    ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Wilson). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam Speaker, every year we come to the House floor to 
commemorate and pay tribute to the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian 
Genocide. Sadly, 85 years after the tragedy began, Turkey still refuses 
to recognize the Armenian Genocide and apologize for the atrocious acts 
it committed. Since 1923, Turkey has denied the Armenian Genocide 
despite overwhelming documentation, and since 1923 there has been no 
justice for the victims and the families of the victims of the Armenian 
Genocide.
  To those who continue to resist the truth, I can only believe that 
they have chosen to ignore the hard evidence or to indulge their shame 
by ignoring the facts. Like the Holocaust, denying the Armenian 
Genocide cannot erase the tragedy, the lives that were lost, or 
compensate for driving people from their homeland. For the people of 
Armenia, the fight continues today, particularly for the Armenians of 
Nagorno-Karabagh, who are impacted by modern day Turkey and 
Azerbaijan's aggression toward Armenia in the form of the Azeri 
blockade against Nagorno-Karabagh. But their actions are not without 
consequences.
  I believe the Congress will continue to provide assistance to the 
people residing in Nagorno-Karabagh, and we will continue to uphold 
section 907 of the Freedom Support Act that denies assistance to 
Azerbaijan until they end their stranglehold on Nagorno-Karabagh. Our 
message to Turkey and Azerbaijan must be loud and clear. We will not 
stand by as you once again seek to threaten the Armenian people.
  For my part, I will continue to support assistance to improve the 
lives of all Armenians; I will continue to remember those who have lost 
their lives, and continue to commemorate this somber occasion. Lastly, 
I will continue to hold the Turkish and Azeri governments responsible 
for their actions past and present. For this reason, I have joined as a 
cosponsor of House Resolution 398, commemorating the genocide and 
calling on the President to characterize in his annual message 
commemorating the Armenian Genocide, the systematic and deliberate 
annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide and to recall the 
proud history of the United States intervention in opposition to that 
genocide.
  I am hopeful that we will see the day when peace, stability, and 
prosperity are realized for the people of Nagorno-Karabagh and for all 
Armenians. But until then, the United States Congress must continue to 
be on the side of what is right, what is just and continue to assist to 
make sure that history does not repeat itself.

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