Political Quotes

“Madam President, 108 years ago on April 24, 1915, Ottoman Turkey began the systematic killing and deportation of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. Between 1915 and 1923, an estimated 1-and-a-half million Armenians fell victim to one of history's most ruthless and notorious genocides. Most who survived eventually emigrated to different parts of the world, forming a widespread diaspora. The American people have a proud history of recognizing and condemning the Armenian genocide and have provided relief and a new home to many of the Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians who survived this campaign of mass extermination. Today, Armenian Americans are a vital part of the cultural fabric of the United States. As we commemorate this dark period, I would encourage my colleagues to remember that atrocities like the Armenian genocide are almost never spontaneous events. They typically follow a period of human rights violations, discrimination, and violence against specific groups who often share a racial, ethnic, religious, or social identity. Most recently, we have seen this in the Chinese Communist Party's inhumane treatment of ethnic minorities, including the persecution of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Mongolians and dissenters in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and further abroad.…”