Peter Blute: “I am pleased to join my colleagues for this commemoration, and I thank Mr. Lehman for arranging it. Recent history has…”

“I am pleased to join my colleagues for this commemoration, and I thank Mr. Lehman for arranging it. Recent history has been the Armenian people subjected to a number of very difficult, troubling, and tragic circumstances. From being forced to live under the Soviet Communist regime, to the terrible 1988 earthquake--much worse than any this Nation has ever seen, to the present blockade and violence imposed by the Azeris. The Armenian people have long suffered. But nothing is more tragic than the genocide which took place from 1915 to 1923--1.5 million died, countless more lost mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, uncles and aunts, comrades and friends. We stand here, more than half a century later, to ensure that others will not forget. Not forget the massacres. Not forget the persecution. Not forget the death marches. Not forget the bloodshed. And not forget that all citizens in the world deserve to live in freedom without the threat of destruction by people that hate. As Americans, our forefathers helped the Armenians by providing millions of dollars in economic relief as well as homes and families for thousands upon thousands of orphans. Today, we offer our sympathy, our thoughts, and our prayers. And we offer our resolve as representatives of the American people that this country will speak out against racial and ethnic hatred, and do everything in our power to see that genocide never happens again in our world.”