On the recordOctober 29, 2019
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the resolution affirming the United States' record on the Armenian genocide. This resolution is long overdue on the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians and thousands of Maronites, Chaldeans, Amalekites, Assyrians, and others who were part of the Ottoman Empire. Mr. Speaker, my grandparents left the Ottoman Empire to escape that genocide just ahead, but their relatives were not as lucky. My grandparents were Maronites. I remember my grandmother's tears as she spoke of their Armenian friends and the many Maronites and Amalekites who were slaughtered by the Ottoman Empire. As a child, I remember the tears and the suffering of our Armenian neighbors and the many members of the other communities whose tears I could not erase. As a child, I could not erase those tears, but for them, I proudly support this resolution.
