Patrick Kennedy: “we recognize today, one of the most tragic atrocities that the twenty-first century has witnessed, occurring…”

“we recognize today, one of the most tragic atrocities that the twenty-first century has witnessed, occurring eighty-seven years ago. The Armenian Genocide, which began on April 24th, 1915 began with the systematic killings of 200 intellectual and spiritual Armenian leaders, and ended with a count of over 1.5 million dead and another half million deported. It was an attempt on ethnic cleansing that has marred the pasts of native Armenians, now living in their native country or residing in America. As members of the international community, it is important for our nation to acknowledge this terrible act on the Armenian people. We must make sure that the voices of the Armenian people do not go unheard. Although the Republic of Turkey has continued to deny that the Genocide took place on its soil, those of us here today are aware of the truth. We cannot allow the truth of the Armenian Genocide to linger in the shadows of this world's history. With information and education our world will be better equipped to tackle equally disturbing human rights atrocities that occur around the globe. Through education, commemoration and remembrance, we send a signal out that the United States does not condone human rights atrocities and we will not forget those that have occurred in the past. We must continue to recognize that the events of 1915-1923 in Armenia were indeed a genocide and in this recognition process, we may prevent incidents like this from occurring ever again.”