[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6081]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 25, 2013

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, this week marked the 98th anniversary of the 
Armenian genocide.
  I have long been a cosponsor of a resolution introduced in multiple 
sessions of Congress which reaffirms the United States record on the 
Armenian genocide.
  The Armenian genocide, in which 1.5 million perished, is widely 
recognized as the 20th century's first genocide. Raphael Lemkin, the 
Jewish legal scholar who coined the word genocide and tirelessly 
advocated for international law defining it and preventing it, was 
driven largely by what happened to the Armenians.
  Since that time, the world has witnessed unfathomable horrors during 
the Nazi-perpetrated Holocaust and subsequent genocides in Bosnia, 
Cambodia, Rwanda and Sudan. And too often, the world has been silent in 
the face of such brutality despite claims of ``Never Again.''
  In fact, Sudanese president Omar Bashir, an internationally-indicted 
war criminal charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, 
continues to travel the globe with virtual impunity.
  Adolph Hitler, in describing his murderous plans and seeking to 
silence those with reservations, famously said, ``Who, after all, 
speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?''
  There is power in speaking the truth, even about atrocities that 
occurred nearly a century ago, so that others with evil aims will not 
be empowered by our silence.
  Sadly President Obama, despite his campaign promises, has once again 
failed to characterize the brutal slaughter of one and half million 
people as genocide.

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