[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9720]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  COMMEMORATING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 23, 2007

  Mr. CAPUANO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate a people who 
despite murder, hardship, and betrayal have persevered. April 24, 2007, 
marks the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
  Throughout three decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, 
millions of Armenians were systematically uprooted from their homeland 
of 3,000 years and deported or massacred. From 1894 through 1896, three 
hundred thousand Armenians were ruthlessly murdered. Again in 1909, 
thirty thousand Armenians were massacred in Cilicia, and their villages 
were destroyed.
  On April 24, 1915, two hundred Armenian religious, political, and 
intellectual leaders were arbitrarily arrested, taken to Turkey and 
murdered. This incident marks a dark and solemn period in the history 
of the Armenian people. From 1915 to 1923, the Ottoman Empire launched 
a systematic campaign to exterminate Armenians. In 8 short years, more 
than 1.5 million Armenians suffered through atrocities such as 
deportation, forced slavery and torture. Most were ultimately murdered.
  Many of our companions in the international community have already 
taken this final step. The European Parliament and the United Nations 
have recognized and reaffirmed the Armenian Genocide as historical 
fact, as have the Russian and Greek parliaments, the Canadian House of 
Commons, the Lebanese Chamber of Deputies and the French National 
Assembly. It is time for America to join the chorus and acknowledge the 
Armenians who suffered at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. And let me 
stress that I am not speaking of the government of modern day Turkey, 
but rather its predecessor, which many of Turkey's present day leaders 
helped to remove from power.
  As I have in the past, as a member of the Congressional Armenian 
Caucus, I will continue to work with my colleagues and with the 
Armenian-Americans in my district to promote investment and prosperity 
in Armenia. And, I sincerely hope that this year, the U.S. will have 
the opportunity and courage to speak in support of the millions of 
Armenians who suffered because of their heritage.

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