Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to commemorate the 83rd anniversary of the Armenian genocide of 1915 at the hands of the Turkish government, the first genocide of the 20th century but sorrowfully not the last.
Armenians, Jews, Ukrainians, Cambodians and Rawandans, among others, have all been victims of genocide.
In 1996 this House designated April 20 to 27 of each year as the week of remembrance of inhumanity of people toward one another.
This week allows us to consider the horrible loss of life and terrible suffering that the crimes of genocide have inflicted upon its victims.
The premeditated mass murder of 1.5 million Armenians is not a tragedy, it is a genocide. Let us recognize the horrors of genocide and pledge to eliminate this evil from our society.