Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the anniversary of the Armenian genocide, a horrific event impacting many of my own constituents in California. From 1915 to 1923, the Ottoman Empire engaged in a systematic and organized deportation and extermination of over 2 million Armenians from their homeland. It is estimated that nearly 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children were killed and many more permanently displaced or forced to flee. I recall one Armenian genocide remembrance ceremony outside city hall in Fresno, California. During the ceremony, I was given a copy of the event invitation, which had inscribed the words of Avetis Aharonian, an influential Armenian writer and poet. It read: ``If evil of this magnitude can be ignored, if our own children forget, then we deserve oblivion and earn the world's scorn.'' The passionate and enduring advocacy of the Armenian Americans, especially those in California's Central Valley, is evidence that the descendants of those who escaped the genocide have not forgotten this evil or their obligation to share its lessons with the world. Like Armenians from around the world, our central California community has heeded Aharonian's words, accepting his call to remember. I am proud to have recently coauthored a bipartisan letter encouraging President Trump to properly recognize the Armenian genocide.…”