Scott Garrett urges to bring H. Res. to the House Floor for a vote

armradio.am
26.04.2008 12:42

Speaking on the House floor on April 24, Congressman Scott Garrett said:

`Today we mark the 93rd anniversary of the onset of the Armenian
genocide. It is on this date that the Ottoman officials captured more
than 200 Armenian intellectual leaders and placed them in prison.
Unfortunately, these actions were only the beginning of the Ottoman-led
atrocities against the Armenians.

During the following years, at least 1.5 million Armenians were
arrested and compelled to march hundreds of miles to what is today the
Syrian desert. And along the way, prisoners of all ages endured hunger,
thirst, rape, sexual abuse, and other forms of torture.

While it is difficult for us to commemorate these terrible acts each
year, we must continue to remember those horrors that can occur when
governments persecute citizens based on ethnicity or religious
affiliation.

We often hear those words of George Santayana’s famous quote that,
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." And
these words are ringing true today as well. Already, there are those
who deny that the Armenian genocide occurred despite the vast evidence
to the contrary. Meanwhile, our generation has seen its own mass
murders occur in Rwanda and Sudan.

So, I urge my colleagues in the majority to bring House Resolution 106,
which commemorates these atrocities that occurred only a few
generations ago, to the House Floor for a vote. Now is the time for
America to officially ensure that U.S. foreign policy reflects
sensitivity concerning human rights issues.

Just yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting Alice Khachadoorian-
Shnorhokian. Alice is a resident of Mahwah, New Jersey, which is a town
in my district. Alice was born in Turkey in 1912 to a successful,
respected Armenian family of eight. And when Turkish officials ordered
Armenians to denounce their faith and nationality, she and her parents
refused. As a result, her family was rounded up and ordered to march
into the desert. Alice and her brother were too young, of course, at
that age to walk, so her parents had to put them in boxes on either
side of a donkey and march into the desert.

When they arrived in Meskene, her mother befriended their Turkish
neighbors, and these neighbors ultimately enabled them to get a permit
which allowed Alice and her family to escape. Alice moved to the United
States in 1980, and became a citizen of the U.S. just 5 years later.
And, as a survivor, she says she wants to, "see justice so that the
words ‘never again’ become a reality."

So, while I am a Member of Congress, I will always remember Alice’s
words and her wish. We must fully recognize the friendship with our
allies in Turkey today, but we cannot change nor should we forget the
past. I hope that there can be some reconciliation between Turkey and
Armenia, and that a proper acknowledgement of the crimes of the past
can now allow them to move forward into a future of peace and also of
mutual understanding.’

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress