Political Quotes

“I rise today, together with my colleagues, to commemorate the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23. On this day, in 1915, over 200 Armenian leaders were systematically massacred by the Turkish Government. Yet these horrific murders were only a precursor to the brutality and aggressiveness that would follow. In just 8 years, over 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children were murdered and an entire population was faced with annihilation. I stand today, not only to acknowledge and remember the horrors of this tragic event but to denounce the government of Turkey for their denial of these historically documented truths. The official position of the Turkish Government is that, during World War I, a series of internal conflicts contributed to the unfortunate deaths of many Armenians. This claim shamefully ignores the premeditated murder of these people. As Members of Congress and as human beings, it is our responsibility to defend the memories of those who needlessly suffered. We must preserve the dignity of lives destroyed by the cruelty of a government. Their plight deserves remembrance and the world deserves the truth. The Turkish Government's refusal to acknowledge the Armenian genocide is disgraceful and I find it to be an injustice, which should not be tolerated under any circumstances. It is essential to recognize the devastation that was incurred by ignoring the Armenian genocide and allowing such horrors to reoccur through the Holocaust.”