Mr. Chairman, I would like to begin by thanking you for holding this hearing today on a bipartisan resolution that I hope can be passed by the House of Representatives before we adjourn in a couple of weeks.  Today’s hearing, combined with assurances from Speaker Denny Hastert that the Armenian Genocide Resolution will come to the floor during this session, are encouraging signs that we will finally pay tribute to the victims of one of history’s worst crimes against humanity: the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923.  

As you will hear from others, the Armenian Genocide was the systematic extermination of one-and-half million Armenian men, women and children during the final years of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.  This was the first genocide of the 20th century, but sadly not the last.

Yet, Mr. Chairman, I regret to say that the United States still does not officially recognize the Armenian Genocide.  Bowing to strong pressure from Turkey, the U.S. State Department has for more than 15 years shied away from referring to the tragic events of 1915-23 by the word "genocide."  President Clinton and his recent predecessors have annually issued proclamations on the anniversary of the Genocide, expressing sorrow for the massacres and solidarity with the victims and survivors, but always stopping short of using the word "genocide," thus minimizing and not accurately conveying what really happened, beginning 83 years ago.

In an effort to address this shameful lapse in our own nation's record as a champion of human rights, a bipartisan coalition of Members of Congress have been working to enact legislation affirming the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide.  I applaud the work of the Gentleman from California (Mr. Radanovich) and the Gentleman from Michigan, the Democratic Whip (Mr. Bonior), for their strong leadership on creating this legislation.  The legislation calls on the President to collect all U.S. records on the Armenian Genocide and provide them to the House International Relations Committee, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Armenian Genocide Museum in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

Many countries, as well as states and provinces and local governments, have adopted resolutions or taken other steps to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide.  From Europe to Australia, to many states in the U.S., elected governments are going on record on the side of truth.  Regrettably, the Republic of Turkey and their various agents of influence in this country and in other countries has fought tooth and nail to block these efforts.

The United States, usually at the forefront of defending human rights, should be in the lead in calling for recognition.  Our failure to go on record proclaiming the truth about the Armenian Genocide must not continue.  The U.S. should go on record clearly and unambiguously recognizing the Armenian Genocide. 

It is nothing short of a crime against memory and human decency that the Republic of Turkey denies that the Genocide ever took place, and has even mounted an aggressive effort to try to present an alternative and false version of history, using its extensive financial and lobbying resources in this country.  The Turkish Government has embarked on a strategy of endowing "Turkish Studies" programs at various universities around the U.S., including a program at Princeton University in my home state of New Jersey.

Mr. Chairman, the Armenian Genocide is a painful subject to discuss.  Yet we must never forget what happened, and never cease speaking out.  We must overcome the denials and the indifference, and keep alive the memory and the truth of what happened to the Armenian people in the past -- as we work together to see to it that this tragic history is never repeated.

In the early 1980s, the U.S. House passed a Resolution officially recognizing the Genocide, but it did not become law.  Three years ago, during debate on the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, the House passed (by more than 300 votes in favor) an amendment withholding economic assistance to Turkey until and unless that country acknowledged the Genocide, but that provision was removed in Conference.  So there has been some effort in this Body, the U.S. House of Representatives, to recognize the Genocide, I'm proud to say.

Early in 1995, the Gentleman from Illinois, Congressmen Porter, and I founded the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, to be a voice for a stronger U.S.-Armenia partnership and to better represent the interests of the Armenian-American community.  We now have 73 members, from both parties and all regions of the country.  There is a lot of sympathy and moral support for Armenia in the Congress, in the Administration, among state legislators around the country, and among the American people in general.  But we should not kid ourselves: we are up against very strong forces, in the State Department and the Pentagon, who believe we must continue to appease Turkey, and among U.S. and international business interests whose concerns with exploiting the oil resources off Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea far outweigh their concerns for the people of Armenia.

Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing on the Armenian Genocide Resolution.  It is my hope that your subcommittee will quickly approve this resolution so that we can finally recognize this horrible crime.