Dan Burton: “Mr. Chairman, we have debated the so-called Armenian genocide issue for the past 13 years. I can remember when I stood…”

“Mr. Chairman, we have debated the so-called Armenian genocide issue for the past 13 years. I can remember when I stood at this table with a stack of books this high from historical experts who had studied the so-called Armenian genocide and took issue with the findings of the majority of the speakers here tonight. They do not believe the conclusions that have been reached by the legislation that has been proposed. The fact is, there was a lot of killing on both sides, and there is enough blame to go around. There is no question that a lot of Armenians were killed, but there were also a lot of Turkish people that were killed as well. Now, the fact of the matter is, there is a divergence of opinion on this issue. Historians from the Middle East come to different conclusions about the issue. And for us to start penalizing an ally like Turkey when there is this huge division of opinion among historical experts, historians, just does not make any sense to me. I could see us kicking somebody in the teeth who is an enemy of the United States, but to go back 70 years, 80 years and start dredging up old wounds and old issues that is going to divide the people in that part of the world makes no sense to me. It just makes no sense whatsoever. If there was conclusive evidence that the Armenian genocide did take place the way it is depicted here tonight, then I would say let us go ahead with it.”