[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5693]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                  _____
                                 

                          HON. LORETTA SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 28, 2015

  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, on this day I would 
like to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide 
perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. On this 
month 100 years ago, April 1915, the Ottoman Empire began a campaign of 
forced deportation, starvation, and massacres of over 1.5 million 
Armenians. This tragic event would later be used as an example for how 
we define and understand the word genocide.
  The modern state of Turkey continues to deny the events of the past. 
Those who deny the Holocaust, the destruction of European Jewry, are 
met with outrage and disdain, as they should. Equally, the denial of 
the Armenian Genocide should elicit the same reaction. Denial of this 
atrocious event disrespects the lives of all those who perished. The 
Armenian Genocide is not a contested debate. It is not of varying 
opinion. It is an undisputed historical fact.
  For decades our Armenian-American communities have urged the American 
government to rightly recognize the actions of the Ottoman Empire as 
genocide. President Obama recently characterized the actions of the 
Ottoman Empire as ``the first mass atrocity of the 20th Century.'' This 
is an accurate description, but it is truly disappointing that he 
decided not to use the word genocide. Armenians do not seek retribution 
for the acts of violence inflicted upon their ancestors. Armenians 
simply seek closure to a very dark and tragic chapter of their 
otherwise proud and distinguished history.

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