Sam Farr: “I rise today with respect to a tragic--and, unfortunately, still largely unknown--event in world history. Eighty-three…”

“I rise today with respect to a tragic--and, unfortunately, still largely unknown--event in world history. Eighty-three years ago, the Armenians of Ottoman Turkey became the victim of a comprehensive government-sponsored campaign of persecution which, after eight terrible years, left dead or deported some two million Armenian men, women, and children. From 1915 to 1923, Turkish Armenians were executed. Tortured, and put into forced labor, solely because of their ethnic heritage. The human costs were terrible and enormous. Over one million Armenians died as a result of the genocide, and hundreds of thousands of others became refugees. One statistic is especially telling: Over 2.5 million Armenians lived in Ottoman Turkey before the genocide began; today, less than 80,000 remain. Although the lives that were lost as a result of the genocide can never be returned, we must never forget what befell the Armenians of Ottoman Turkey solely because of their ethnicity. We must remember, not only in the honor of their memories, but so that future generations understand the terrible effects of bigotry and ethnic hatred. When isolated incidents of persecution are tolerated, or when politicians gain from supporting ethnic persecution, the consequences can be terrible. We must therefore never tolerate discrimination in any form. We must also remember that such tragic events can happen again when the world community ignores the warning signs before it is too late.”