Robert Torricelli: “Mr. Chairman, I have never heard of such a modest request, more simple in form or in substance. The Armenian people…”

“Mr. Chairman, I have never heard of such a modest request, more simple in form or in substance. The Armenian people simply want recorded in history what every schoolchild learns at the earliest stages of their education. They seek no revenge and they come forward with no rancor. They recognize that the dead die twice when the crimes against them are not recorded. In this case, not a few individuals, not just simply a few forgotten souls, but hundreds of thousands, indeed in excess of 1 million, a whole people helplessly locked inside churches, surrounded in villages, hunted down in the streets, the Armenian people suffered the first great genocide of the 20th century. To some it is a distant part of history, but to those who still live with the memories, to those who lost mothers and fathers and other relatives, it is a haunting nightmare. Indeed, Mr. Chairman, for those who care about history, and here in the final days of the 20th century are committed to the concept that the worst of our time will not be repeated, it is more than relevant. The Armenian genocide is compelling. Indeed, the story has been told every year in which I have served in this Congress, and it will be told every year until justice is done.”