Senate Passes Menendez Resolution Recognizing the Armenian Genocide

Statement

Today the Senate passed legislation by Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which formally recognizes the Armenian Genocide on behalf of the U.S. government. After three previous attempts in recent weeks, Menendez obtained the Unanimous Consent of his Senate colleagues to pass his Senate Resolution affirming the historical facts of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire, and honoring the memories of its 1,500,000 victims.

"By passing my Armenian Genocide resolution, the Senate finally stood up to confirm history: What happened from 1915 to 1923 was -- most assuredly -- genocide. There is no other word for it. There is no euphemism. There is no avoiding it," said Menendez. "To overlook human suffering is not who we are as a people. It is not what we stand for as a nation. We are better than that, and our foreign policy should always reflect this. I am beyond honored and humbled to be part of this important moment of our history."

Menendez has long been a passionate champion for the Armenian-American community in the United States, leading the push for a formal Senate Resolution to recognize the Armenian Genocide in every session of Congress since 2006, as well as co-authoring in years past during his time in the House of Representatives. Since November 14th of this year, Senator Menendez took to the Senate Floor every week to try to adopt the Resolution. After being blocked every time by a Senate Republican, the Senator vowed to keep returning every week until Armenian Genocide denialism was defeated.

"Today, the Senate finally took a stand and spoke the truth -- spoke the truth to darkness, spoke truth to evil, spoke truth to murder, spoke truth to genocide -- and finally honored the 1.5 million innocent lives lost," added Senator Ted Cruz(R-Tex.), the lead Republican Senate sponsor of the Resolution. "Sen. Menendez has been fighting this fight a long time, and I've been proud to stand by his side. This is the third week in a row we have come to the Senate floor seeking to pass this resolution. And I'm grateful that today we have succeeded,"

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