Rodney Frelinghuysen: “Tomorrow marks the 82nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. As Armenians gather around the world to commemorate the…”

“Tomorrow marks the 82nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. As Armenians gather around the world to commemorate the anniversary of this event, it is important for all of us to remember the significance of this tragedy. For, it is only by remembering past horrors that we will not allow them to be repeated. As many of my colleagues know, 1.5 million Armenians were subjected to this century's first systematic extermination based on their ethnicity, something we know all too commonly now as genocide. Between 1915 and 1923, the Ottoman empire implemented a deliberate policy of deporting, torturing, starving and massacring Armenians throughout the lands under their rule. Many of the Armenian survivors and those deported emigrated to the United States. At that time, the United States condemned the brutal acts of the Ottoman Empire and even provided humanitarian assistance to survivors, in the largest relief effort ever organized by our country. Today, there are those that refuse to recognize the sins of the past--despite the overwhelming evidence of the Armenian Genocide. We must stare history in the face no matter how terrible. The cost of not being honest about the past threatens our future. That is why I urge the President, the Senate, and every Member of this body to send a unified message to the world that we do remember the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Let us not allow any nation to forget or disavow that this tragedy ever happened.”