[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5890-5891]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              OBSERVING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE DAY

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, 98 years ago today, the Ottoman Empire in 
Turkey launched one of the most horrific episodes in human history. The 
detention and eventual execution of hundreds of members of Turkey's 
ethnic Armenian minority launched a genocidal campaign of deportation 
and starvation in which more than 1.5 million people ultimately 
perished.
  We mark Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, first, because those who 
perished deserve to be remembered, but we also do so as a reminder: a 
reminder of the horrible violence that ethnic hatred can inflame; a 
reminder that too often, governments have employed those hatreds and 
passions; and a reminder that the world's silence in the face of one 
such episode of atrocity can embolden others who would seek to emulate 
it. It is often noted that Adolph Hitler, in justifying his invasion of 
Poland in 1939, told his commanders: ``Who, after all, speaks today of 
the annihilation of the Armenians?'' Silence in the face of governments 
that abuse and oppress their people simply enables the perpetrators of 
violence and injustice.
  I join the many members of the Armenian-American community and 
Armenians around the world in the hope that the Government of the 
Republic of Turkey which we should remember played no role in the 
Armenian genocide can work together with the Government of Armenia to 
heal the divisions that remain nearly a century after this dark 
episode. That should include an honest and forthright dialogue about 
the nature of the events and the impact that it has had which is still 
with us today. Already, the governments of these two nations have 
negotiated an agreement to open the border between them, an agreement 
that includes a pledge to establish an independent commission of 
historians to review and come to a common understanding of the events 
of a century ago. I am hopeful that this agreement can be ratified and 
implemented.
  It is also worth remembering that Turkey, a vital U.S. ally, is 
playing an enormously important role in confronting a more recent 
atrocity: the death of thousands of Syrian civilians at the hands of a 
dictatorial government seeking to hold on to power at any cost. More 
than 75,000 Syrians have died in this strife, and more than 1 million 
of them are refugees. Many of those refugees have sought shelter in 
Turkey. I have joined with Senator McCain and others in calling for our 
government to explore additional ways of supporting the Syrian people 
and of supporting the efforts of Turkey and other nations to protect 
Syria's people. That call is motivated, in part, by the memory of 
historic episodes in which the community of nations has failed to act 
when confronted by such evil.

[[Page 5891]]

  Our remembrance of the Armenian genocide makes it incumbent upon us 
to bear witness to this and other modern atrocities against human and 
civil rights. By our refusal to remain silent in the face of today's 
violence and injustice, we honor the victims of the Armenian genocide 
and other atrocities against decency and humanity.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 98th 
anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
  In 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed the 
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 
based in part on the horrific crimes perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire 
against the Armenian people in the early 20th Century.
  Between 1915 and 1923, 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 horrific acts 
of brutality at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.
  Yet, in the 65 years that have passed since the Convention was 
adopted, successive U.S. administrations have refused to call the 
deliberate massacre of the Armenians by its rightful name genocide.
  For many years, I have urged both Democratic and Republican 
administrations to finally acknowledge the truth. I do so again today. 
It is long past time for our government to acknowledge, once and for 
all, that the Armenian genocide is a widely documented fact supported 
by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.
  In fact, the Armenian genocide along with the Holocaust is one of the 
most studied cases of genocide in history. Tragically, Adolf Hitler 
even used the Ottoman Empire's action against the Armenians to justify 
the extermination of the Jews in the Holocaust, saying in 1939, ``Who, 
after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?''
  A number of sovereign nations, ranging from Argentina to France, as 
well as 43 out of 50 U.S. States have recognized what happened to the 
Armenians as genocide. Yet successive U.S. administrations continue 
only to refer to the Armenian genocide as an annihilation, massacre, or 
murder.
  The entire Armenian community and the descendants of the victims of 
the Armenian genocide continue to suffer prolonged pain each and every 
day that goes by without full acknowledgement by the United States.
  I hope that this is the year that we finally right this terrible 
wrong because the United States cannot and does not turn a blind eye to 
atrocities around the globe. In fact, the United States is often the 
first to speak out in the face of violence and unspeakable suffering 
and to urge other countries to respond. But sadly, our Nation is on the 
wrong side of history when it comes to the Armenian genocide.
  So this April 24, as we pause to remember the victims and to 
celebrate the many contributions Armenian Americans have made to our 
great country, I hope that the United States will finally and firmly 
stand on the right side of history and officially condemn the crimes of 
1915 to 1923 by their appropriate name.

                          ____________________