Claudia Tenney: “I thank Congresswoman Ann Wagner for yielding. She is a wonderful inspiration to me as a new Member. I also want to…”

“I thank Congresswoman Ann Wagner for yielding. She is a wonderful inspiration to me as a new Member. I also want to thank Congressman McGovern for his comments. This is really important that she is hosting tonight's Special Order on genocide awareness and prevention. During the month of April, we joined together to honor victims and survivors to educate the public about genocide--it is hard to believe it is happening in our time--and to advocate for the prevention of future atrocities. In the past 150 years, tens of millions of men, women, and children have lost their lives during brutal genocides and mass atrocities. Millions have been tortured, raped, and forced from their homes. Some of the darkest moments in world history have occurred, oddly enough, in the month of April. In April 1933, the Nazi Party began its boycott of Jewish-owned businesses. This marked the beginning of a campaign of hatred that led to the murder of 6 million Jews. My district is home to thousands of refugees from the former Yugoslavia. I have a long history with Yugoslavia. I began my study of the country of Yugoslavia in 1981 when I first participated as a student, a college student from Colgate University, in a semester abroad, and we traveled throughout the entire Yugoslavia and all the different principalities and republics. It was a spectacular and beautiful country, and it sparked a lifelong interest for me in this region.…”