[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 5978]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 96th 
Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide--a tragedy that has left a dark 
stain on the collective conscience of mankind.
  What has made this tragedy even more painful--particularly for the 
Armenian people--is the failure of successive U.S. administrations to 
acknowledge the deliberate massacre of the Armenians by its rightful 
name--genocide.
  So today, I also rise to reiterate my call to President Barack Obama 
to finally right this terrible wrong.
  In 2008, then-Senator Obama said:

       . . . the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a 
     personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely 
     documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of 
     historical evidence. The facts are undeniable.

  I could not agree more. And every day that goes by without full 
acknowledgement of these undeniable facts by the United States prolongs 
the pain felt by descendants of the victims, as well as the entire 
Armenian community.
  Countless experts have documented the atrocities that occurred 
between 1915 and 1923, when more than 1.5 million Armenians were 
marched to their deaths in the deserts of the Middle East, murdered in 
concentration camps, drowned at sea, and forced to endure unimaginable 
acts of brutality at the hands of the Ottoman Empire--now modern-day 
Turkey.
  Yet successive U.S. administrations continue only to refer to the 
genocide by such terms as ``annihilation,'' ``massacre,'' and 
``murder.''
  This is not only an affront to the memory of the victims and to their 
descendants, but it does a disservice to the United States as it seeks 
to stand up to those who are perpetrating violence today.
  In a recent speech President Obama eloquently said:

       Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities 
     in other countries. The United States of America is 
     different.

  The United States is not a nation that turns a blind eye to 
atrocities, and that is why it is so important that we finally 
acknowledge the Armenian genocide for what it was--genocide.
  As I have said, genocide is only possible when people avert their 
eyes. Any effort to deal with genocide--in the past, present, or 
future, must begin with the truth.
  So this April 24, as we pause to remember the victims and to honor 
the countless contributions Armenian Americans have made to our great 
country, I hope that the U.S. finally stands on the right side of 
history and calls the tragedy of 1915-1923 by its rightful name.

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