Recognizing U.S. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Madam Speaker, as a proud member of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, I rise in recognition of yesterday's historic passage of H. Res. 296 to affirm the United States' recognition of the Armenian genocide.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to represent many people of Armenian descent who live in northern New Jersey. In Bergen County, we hold an annual ceremony on April 24 to remember the day in 1915 when hundreds of Armenian intellectuals were rounded up and ultimately murdered at the beginning of the Armenian genocide.

The massacre of 1.5 million Armenians, as well as Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronities, and other Christians, by the Ottoman Empire constituted the 20th century's first genocide.

As a Jewish American, the need to recognize genocide is deeply personal for me. My relatives lost their entire family during the Nazi attempt to exterminate European Jewry.

I know that it is never the wrong time to bear witness and tell the truth. The United States should never be complicit in denying genocide.

As a proud member of the bipartisan Armenian Caucus, co-chaired by my friend, Chairman Frank Pallone, I will continue working hard in Congress for justice on behalf of New Jersey and the Fifth Congressional District's great Armenian American community.

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