[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 7011-7012]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      COMMEMORATING THE 93RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 24, 2008

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN.  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 93rd 
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenian 
men, women, and children were killed by Ottoman authorities during 
World War I.
  On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman government began its genocidal plan by 
arresting and murdering over 250 Armenian intellectuals and political 
figures in Istanbul. In the interior of the Ottoman Empire, where the 
bulk of the Armenian population lived, the government then arrested and 
killed village leaders. Meanwhile, most able-bodied Armenian men, who 
had been conscripted into the Ottoman army, were separated into labor 
battalions and subsequently murdered. Next, in various provinces, 
gendarmes and the army massacred Armenian villagers outright, while in 
other provinces, the remaining Armenian population of women, children 
and the elderly were forcibly deported over the mountains and into the 
scorching deserts of Syria, without food and water. Many of the female 
deportees were raped and killed en route, while other deportees died of 
starvation and dehydration. By the end of 1915 the centuries-old 
Armenian civilization of eastern Anatolia no longer existed.
  U.S. diplomats who were stationed in Anatolia at the time were some 
of the main eyewitnesses and chroniclers of that horrific

[[Page 7012]]

period. U.S. Consul Leslie Davis, stationed in Harput in eastern 
Anatolia, wrote the following in a cable to U.S. Ambassador Henry 
Morgenthau, dated July 24, 1915: ``It has been no secret that the plan 
was to destroy the Armenian race as a race, but the methods used have 
been more cold-blooded and barbarous, if not effective, than I had 
first supposed.'' He also wrote in this same cable: ``I do not believe 
there has ever been a massacre in the history of the world so general 
and thorough as that which is now being perpetrated in this region or 
that a more fiendish, diabolical scheme has been conceived in the mind 
of man.''
  This cable, and many others of a similar nature, is housed in the 
U.S. National Archives only a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol and the 
White House. They provide unambiguous, documentary evidence of what 
occurred. Yet there are those who still refuse to properly characterize 
what happened to the Armenian people during World War I as genocide. 
Although the word ``genocide'' was not invented in 1915, what these 
diplomats described was indeed genocide of a people.
  I am deeply disappointed that many of our current officials avoid 
characterizing what occurred as ``genocide.'' This avoidance does a 
disservice to the memory of the victims and their descendants, and 
hurts our moral standing in the world. I hope that one day soon, this 
legislative body and the U.S. Administration will properly characterize 
what happened to the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire.
  Many of the survivors of the Armenian genocide settled in the United 
States. Bearing painful physical and emotional scars, they nonetheless 
re-established their lives here, worked hard, and became proud American 
citizens, thankful for the opportunity to live in freedom. Many of 
their descendants have become leaders in the fields of science, 
business, academia, and the arts, and have served their country bravely 
in military uniform. They have also created a vibrant community. Yet 
they also bear the pain of what their parents and grandparents went 
through and are actively engaged in the effort to seek proper 
recognition of what happened to the Armenian people in 1915. Today, as 
we recall the events of the Armenian genocide and pay homage to the 
victims, we also honor the Armenian-American community for its 
unwavering commitment to this human rights struggle.

                          ____________________