Affirming the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, first I would like to pay tribute to the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Engel, for helping to bring this to the floor; to everyone that is part of, from both sides of the aisle, the Armenian caucus in the House; and to my sister, friend, Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who shares this heritage with me.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, H. Res. 296, which affirms the Armenian genocide.

This is a historic day in the House of Representatives, and it is one that I have been waiting for for 27 years.

Between 1915 and 1923, 1.5 million Armenians--and this is a historical fact that many people are not aware of, that there were hundreds of thousands of Assyrians, Greeks, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians who were systematically slaughtered by the Ottoman Empire.

This is deeply personal for me. I am the only Member of Congress of Armenian Assyrian decent and one of only three of Armenian heritage in the House of Representatives--I think in the entire Congress, Senate and House.

Some of you know that I had members of my own family who were among those that perished, and my parents fled with theirs to America. As my father said: The best idea that was ever born was America.

What all of those who were persecuted have in common was that they were Christians, and that is why they were hunted down and slaughtered.

This resolution not only honors my ancestors, but all of those who perished in the first genocide of the 20th century.

The United States has been missing in action on the honor roll of over two dozen countries, 14 of which are NATO allies, and 49 States in our country that have formally recognized the Armenian genocide. Today, we can end over 100 years of silence by passing this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, there is also a historic parallel as we are considering this resolution, and that is that Turkey is pursuing the ethnic cleansing of Kurds in Syria, as we meet today.

As Pope Francis declared when he visited the Armenian genocide memorial in Yerevan in 2016: ``Memories should not be watered down or forgotten; memory is a source of peace and of the future.''

So today we remember and we say to all those who perished: We remember. We love you.

Mr. Speaker, we set an example for the young people of our country that the moral authority of the United States is well and alive as we pass this resolution.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey.

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank Anna Eshoo for her leadership throughout many decades on this issue. It was her idea to bring it up on the floor today. I want to thank her for that. Of course she had to work within the leadership to get it done, but I thank her for recommending that.

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind Members that, in 2018, Anna Eshoo and I wrote the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act. It was signed by President Trump into law. That provided two things: humanitarian relief for the tens of thousands of Christians and Yazidis fleeing from ISIS; it also provided an accountability piece to collect for, hopefully, utilization in future court cases against the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.

So, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for that work that we did together and, again, for her leadership on this issue.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source