[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 173 (Thursday, October 31, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H8708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SPEAK OUT AGAINST GENOCIDE

  (Ms. GABBARD asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. GABBARD. Madam Speaker, the history of the United States has been 
intertwined with that of the Armenian people and the Armenian genocide.
  It was American missionaries and diplomats who let the world know 
that the Ottoman Empire was attempting to cleanse itself of the 
Armenian and Christian populations. The U.S. became home to many 
survivors.
  Their experience inspired Raphael Lemkin to create the term 
``genocide,'' only to see his Jewish family suffer the same fate at the 
hands of Nazi Germany.
  The denial of the Armenian genocide has had contemporary 
consequences. I have visited both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. I saw 
that a Turkey which denies genocide has no fear of committing it again. 
In fact, Turkey has begun an ethnic cleansing of the Syrian Kurds in 
northern Syria.
  I have long called for our government to officially recognize the 
Armenian genocide. I am an original cosponsor of H. Res. 296.
  The House has spoken with a clear voice, breaking the silence, 
recognizing the Armenian genocide. We call on the Senate and President 
Trump to do the same.
  We cannot allow history to repeat itself.

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