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"Never Forget the Armenians"
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, as a proud member of the Armenian Congressional Caucus here in Washington, and we have over 90 members, and as a representative of a very large and vibrant community of Armenian Americans, I rise today to join many of my colleagues in the sad commemoration of the Armenian genocide.
Today we remember the tragedy where more than 1.5 million Armenians were murdered at the hands of the Turks and more than 500,000 others were deported.
Unfortunately, there were others included in this massacre, including Assyrians and Pontic Greeks, bringing the number to well over 3.5 million lost lives.
Today, April 24, marks the 86th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide. It was on this day in 1915 that more than 200 Armenian religious, political and intellectual leaders were gathered together and murdered in Constantinople. This was the beginning of an organized, brutal campaign to eliminate the Armenian presence from the Ottoman Empire. This campaign lasted for over 8 years. During this time, Armenians were systematically uprooted from their homeland of over 3,000 years and eliminated through massacres or deportation. But Armenians are strong people, and their dream of freedom did not die. More than 70 years after the genocide, the new Republic of Armenia was born as the Soviet Union crumbled.
Today, we pay tribute to the courage and strength of people who would not know defeat. I was privileged to meet with many of these people this past weekend on Sunday in my district where Sam Azadian along with Archbishop Barsamian and many others held a meeting where we remembered the massacres. One of the survivors, Sano Halo, was there. Her daughter has written a book about her life entitled ``Not Even My Name.'' It tells the story of Ms. Halo who, at the age of 10, was uprooted with her family with thousands of Pontic Greeks and forced by the Turks on a brutal death march. Ms. Halo saw her entire family die of starvation and disease in front of her eyes, or assault and murder by the Turks. Through circumstances, she was able to survive and has come to the United States and now lives in my district.
Unfortunately, even with the truthful, thoughtful accounts from people who experienced the genocide such as Ms. Halo, there are those who question the reality of the Armenian slaughter. That is why it is so important that in this Congress we must finally pass the resolution documenting the Armenian genocide. We must follow the moral leadership of France and Italy whose national assemblies unanimously passed a bill that officially recognizes the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey during and after World War II. And we must follow the leadership of many of our State legislatures. Over 27 legislatures have passed proclamations, resolutions, bills recognizing the genocide.
For the people of Armenia, the fight still continues today, particularly for the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, who are impacted by modern day Turkey and Azerbaijan's aggression toward Armenia in the continued blockade. I am hopeful that the recent talks in Key West between the Armenian and Azerbaijan presidents will move them one step closer toward peace. A peaceful solution is important to United States interests.
We have supported Armenia with direct assistance and with confidence-building allocations. I strongly support the efforts of the Armenian community to dedicate a museum and memorial commemorating the victims of the Armenian genocide. This year, their dream became a reality with the purchase of a building near the White House. Nothing we can say will bring back those who perished, but we can honor their memories with everlasting meaning by teaching the lessons of the Armenian genocide to the next generation.
As the great philosopher George Santayana once said, ``Those who do not
remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'' Let us learn our lesson and
never forget the Armenians.
Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News Archives