Chris Smith: “once again I rise, along with my colleagues, in solemn commemoration of the events of April 24th, 1915. On that day, a…”

“once again I rise, along with my colleagues, in solemn commemoration of the events of April 24th, 1915. On that day, a group of leaders of the Armenian community in Turkey was murdered. That fateful day marked the beginning. By 1923, about a million and a half Armenians had been killed and 500,000 more had been deported. The Armenian community of the Ottoman Empire was uprooted, as this bloody century witnessed its first genocide. Many survivors came to the United States to rebuild their lives. As a community and as individuals, they attained remarkable successes, contributing greatly to their new homeland and consolidating Armenians' longstanding reputation for resourcefulness and resilience. But they never forgot their roots or their ancient homeland or the terrible wrong done to them. Our remarks today demonstrate our solidarity with them as they grieve over their losses, even while contemplating how much Armenia and Armenians have accomplished in this century. Every commemoration of the Armenian Genocide is somber. But 1999's ceremonies are especially so. After all these years, after all the invocations and prayers, after all the memorials, it is horrifying to realize that the century is ending as it began. Once again, a government is using all its instruments of war against a civilian population solely because of its ethnic and religious affiliation.”