Political Quotes

“central New York is a place of diverse cultures, very much a cross-section of America in the late 20th Century. Our Nation is stronger because of immigrants who have come searching for freedom. Among those groups are Armenian Americans, who have thrived in my hometown and have laid groundwork for their children's future. Sadly, as we salute their hard work and faith, we must mention in the same breath the very reason most Armenians came to America. Because today, as we do each April, we force ourselves to remember the Armenian Genocide, a holocaust victimizing not only the 1.5 million people massacred by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, but those who were forced to abandon their ancient homeland. The details of the inhumanity are repulsive to us who live side by side with children and grandchildren of the survivors. We remember, easily in some cases, that prejudice has taken many forms against many groups of immigrants. But in few cases has the horror of intense hatred in the homeland reached a level of viciousness that it bears the name of genocide. This has been true of the Armenian people. I sympathize today with the descendants of those who died, and those who came to America. I condemn the acts, past and present, which are carried out against a people in the name of nationalism or any other cause. And I thank God with my Armenian American friends today that they have brought their culture to our great Nation.”