Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Affirming the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide
Floor Speech
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 655 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. Res. 655
Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order without intervention of any point of order to consider in the House the resolution (H. Res. 296) affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide. The resolution shall be considered as read. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the resolution and preamble to adoption without intervening motion or demand for division of the question except one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 655, providing for consideration of H. Res. 296 under a closed rule.
This resolution also provides 1 hour of general debate controlled by the Chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Speaker, this rule is about U.S. leadership, standing for human rights, and whether we are going to turn a blind eye to atrocities, even if they took place 100 years ago.
H. Res. 296 is a resolution formally recognizing and memorializing the Armenian genocide. And let me say, it is about time. 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in the emerging Nation of Turkey over a century ago. Tens of thousands of Armenians were violently expelled from their ancestral homelands.
These truths are important. Acknowledging them is important. Yet, the United States has only tinkered around the edges of recognizing this reality. Some of our Nation's closest allies already have--31 nations, in fact--countries like Canada, Italy, France, Poland, Sweden, Germany, even Russia have recognized this genocide.
Mr. Speaker, here is a map of those nations, and you can tell that the United States stands out; and I say that with great sadness.
White House statements and Congressional resolutions over the years have referred to mass atrocities and other euphemisms; but nothing in recent times has fully recognized it by calling it what it actually was, a genocide.
Mr. Speaker, we need to speak the truth. Forty-nine of our 50 States have formally recognized the Armenian genocide, but the Federal Government has not.
This is a dark stain on our human rights record. The United States should stand foursquare for human rights. Anything short of that sends exactly the wrong message to abusers around the globe.
Mr. Speaker, I represent a congressional district in central Massachusetts. It is home to the oldest Armenian community in America. The first Armenian orthodox church in America was built in Worcester, Massachusetts, my hometown. People still worship in it today.
When I was first elected in 1996, we had rows and rows of pews filled with survivors of the Armenian genocide sitting at the front of the church during our annual April remembrance of the Armenian genocide. Sadly, almost 2 years ago, the last of our survivors, Rose, passed away.
I have learned so much from this community. And to those who insist that now is not the time for us to recognize the Armenian genocide; I have to ask in return, when will it be the right time? When the very last survivor of the genocide has passed away?
Those who want the world to forget, those who want to deny genocide, they believe that history will be erased with the last eyewitness to genocide.
Mr. Speaker, I must be honest. As many political leaders have proclaimed ``never again'' over the years, the Armenian American community has been left to wonder when ``never again'' would finally become ``enough is enough.''
With this resolution, the United States will join the ranks of the many nations, parliaments, and institutions that have fully recognized and commemorated the Armenian genocide. We will speak out clearly in favor of human rights. Finally, we will say loud and clear that enough is enough.
Mr. Speaker, as we acknowledge this genocide from 100 years ago, I am glad this House is separately considering H.R. 4695 on suspension this week. This bill recognizes the blood that is being spilled today in northern Syria. Because of Turkey's ruthless aggression, hundreds of civilians have been killed. Thousands more have been displaced.
Erdogan's government has targeted the Kurds, one of our strongest and most courageous allies in the fight against ISIS. What is going on there can only be described as ethnic cleansing.
Instead of standing up for the people who have fought alongside U.S. troops in Syria, President Trump gave Turkey the green light to try and wipe the Kurds off the map. The President even complimented President Erdogan, calling him a friend, a tough man, a hell of a leader.
Just last week, 9 days after the President first announced sanctions against Turkey, he unilaterally lifted all the sanctions against Turkey--9 days. Are you kidding me?
Never in my life did I think I would see the day when a President of the United States would pave the way for a nation to systematically slaughter our allies, remove sanctions from a country engaging in ethnic cleansing without holding anyone to account, or put U.S. troops stationed abroad in harm's way all while giving Russia not only a PR victory but control over territory that just days before had been safe, secure, and free from the control of ISIS terrorists and Assad's murderous regime.
Standing up for human rights is not a Democratic or Republican issue; it is an American issue. Even in an age of heightened partisanship, this Congress must still be capable of speaking with one voice against genocide and crimes against humanity, no matter when they took place. I urge all of my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying resolution so we can show the world that we still are.
My colleague from Texas talked about a lot of different subjects in his opening remarks. I have to say that I am a little bit disappointed--well, more than a little bit. I am disappointed and somewhat offended at the implication that this is not an important matter.
Let me remind him that 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman Empire and the emerging nation of Turkey. Let me remind him of the countless hundreds of thousands of people who had to flee because of that oppression. Let me also remind him that it is not the official policy of the United States Government. If it were, that map that I showed you would have included us as a nation formally recognizing the Armenian genocide.
My friend may not think it is important, but as somebody who cares deeply about human rights, it is important that we respect historical accuracy and that we respect the truth.
I don't know if the gentleman was in the Rules Committee last night when our colleague from California, Anna Eshoo, movingly and tearfully talked about her family's experiences during that time, when she lost ancestors and her parents came to the United States to try to have a better life. But I don't know how we can just kind of brush this off as not a big deal.
It is a big deal. It is a big deal to Armenian Americans, and it is a big deal to anybody who cares about human rights in this country.
Shalala), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Judy Chu).
Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I have just returned from Armenia, where I went to the Armenian Genocide Museum. I cannot get the pictures that I saw out of my mind: Armenian women and children murdered in mass graves, Armenian leaders hung as examples to others, Armenians forced onto long death marches without food or water.
There were 1.5 million Armenians killed in this genocide in 1915. I saw the documents of the many who had witnessed it, including U.S. diplomat Henry Morgenthau, and yet over 100 years later, the U.S. has never officially acknowledged it.
This vote to finally acknowledge the Armenian genocide should have come sooner, because of people in my district like Joseph ``Bebo'' Manjikian. When I met him, he was 104, but from his wheelchair, he told me about the many family members he lost in the genocide. Bebo passed away before he could see this day. He didn't forget them, and neither can we.
Mr. Speaker, for the sake of Bebo and so many others, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I have to say to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess) that, again, it is frustrating to hear his comments. I mean, we are talking about a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide; 1.5 million people were murdered. I think it is generally a bipartisan resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend not only Chairman Engel and Chairman Smith, who is a Republican, for their testimony before the Rules Committee; I want to thank Congressman Schiff, who is the main author of this; but our colleague in the Rules Committee, Congresswoman Lesko, came out very strongly in favor of this resolution.
It would be nice if there were a couple of moments here that didn't always have to be politicized, and I think this resolution should be one of those moments.
This is important; this is serious; and we shouldn't bring politics into a resolution dealing with the recognition of a genocide. So I obviously have a different opinion on how people should vote on the previous question.
Sanchez).
Mr. Speaker, again, it really is frustrating to hear my colleague try and dismiss this. There has not been a resolution calling this a genocide and outlining all the facts before.
Mr. Speaker, I would again urge my colleagues, in a bipartisan way, to support the underlying bill and to reject any attempts to try to politicize this process.
And, again, we do this out of respect for those victims of the genocide, for its survivors, for the Armenian American community, for the Armenian community all over the world, and we do it because the United States of America is supposed to be committed to a very high standard of human rights.
If we stand for anything, we need to stand out loud and four square for human rights.
To not appropriately acknowledge a genocide only paves the way for future thugs, dictators, and authoritarians to commit similar atrocities, believing that somehow the United States, the most powerful country in the world, will just look the other way.
I hope that we have strong, bipartisan support on this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
The gentleman wonders why we didn't bring this legislation up under suspension of the rules. To be honest with you, I think there was a concern by Democrats and Republicans on the Foreign Affairs Committee that we might not have all the votes that we needed to pass them under suspension of the rules.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Turkey employs very well-paid lobbyists here in Washington, and they have been working quite diligently trying to defeat this. So I hope we have a vote that is overwhelming, but we don't know.
Secondly, I don't know why the gentleman would object to bringing this up under a rule. It gives more time for Members on both sides of the aisle to be able to speak on this, and a lot of Members do. We had a lot of Democrats on our side who wanted to speak. We have others who are going to speak when the underlying bill comes up. So I don't quite get it.
Let me say, again, for the Record, this is not the official policy of the United States. If it was, President Trump would publicly acknowledge the Armenian genocide.
By the way, I am not picking on President Trump. The same could be said for President Obama. I can go right down the list of Presidents.
The deal is, this is not the official policy. If it was, we wouldn't be here.
It really is somewhat disappointing that the gentleman doesn't quite appreciate how impactful this is and how important it is.
Mr. Speaker, the horrors of human rights abuses can be mind-numbing, whether they occurred 100 years ago, like the Armenian genocide, or are happening today in Syria at the hands of Erdogan's government.
I get it. It is easier to turn away than to see the impact of brutality, the loss of life, the maiming of civilians, including children, in the devastated communities. It can turn your stomach and break your heart, but we must not lose our capacity for outrage. That 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in the emerging nation of Turkey should outrage all of us.
Formally recognizing this genocide is the right thing to do. I wish we took this step long ago, but it is always the right time to do the right thing.
I urge my colleagues: Let's speak with one voice. Let's join some of our closest allies in recognizing the Armenian genocide. Let's finally remove this dark stain on the record of the United States of America.
I say this all the time: The core of our being as a nation should be upholding a high standard of human rights. We should always be counted on to speak out when people's human rights are being denied. We certainly should be counted on to adhere to historical accuracy.
This happened, and it is time that it become the official policy of the United States of America to recognize that it did happen and call it for what it was, and it was a genocide.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the previous question, vote ``yes'' on the rule, and vote ``yes'' on the underlying bill.
The material previously referred to by Mr. Burgess is as follows: Amendment to House Resolution 655
At the end of the resolution, add the following:
Sec. 2. Upon adoption of this resolution, the Committees on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, Financial Services, Oversight and Reform, and Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence shall suspend pursuing matters referred to by the Speaker in her announcement of September 24, 2019, until such time as the United States achieves operational control of the southern border.
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