Victor Fazio: “as a long-time friend of the Armenian-American community, I am once again proud to join my colleagues in our annual…”

“as a long-time friend of the Armenian-American community, I am once again proud to join my colleagues in our annual special order commemorating the Armenian genocide of 1915--to take time to honor the victims and survivors of this atrocity and pay our respects to their families. Persecution of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire began toward the end of the 19th century and increased through the beginning of the 20th century. On April 24, 1915--the date that symbolizes for Armenians the beginning of the Armenian genocide--over 200 religious, political and intellectual leaders of the Armenian community were arrested, exiled and murdered. Armenian representation in Turkey was eliminated. In a single night, the voice of the Armenian nation in Turkey was silenced. From that infamous date until 1923, 1.5 million Armenians died from the Ottoman Empire's attempts to eliminate the Armenian people. According to the United States Ambassador to Turkey at that time, "When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race; they understood this well and in their conversations with me, they made no particular attempt to conceal the fact." Mr. Speaker, we must remember this deplorable example of man's inhumanity towards his fellow man, so that we can renew both our responsibility and our pledge to prevent the repetition of similar atrocities against any other people anywhere in the world.”