[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 7993-7994] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]84TH COMMEMORATION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ______ speech of HON. WILLIAM O. LIPINSKI of illinois in the house of representatives Wednesday, April 21, 1999 Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank Mr. Pallone and Mr. Porter for organizing a special order on April 21 to commemorate the Armenian genocide and their [[Page 7994]] leadership as co-chairmen of the Congressional Armenian Issues Caucus. I would also like to salute Mr. Bonior and Mr. Radanovich for their vision and initiative in introducing a resolution calling for a collection of all U.S. records relating to the Armenian genocide. On the 84th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. I rise today to join my colleagues and the Armenian-American community in honoring the memories of those who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. April 24, 1915 is recognized the world over as the day hundreds of Armenian leaders in Constantinople were rounded up and killed. Thousands more were murdered in public. This began an eight year long killing spree that claimed the lives of over 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children--half of the world's Armenian population at the time. Moreover, 500,000 Armenians were forcibly driven out of their homeland to seek refuge in other nations. By 1923 the Turks successfully eradicated nearly all traces of a 3000 year-old civilization. There were 2.1 million Armenians in Turkey before 1915, now there are only 100,000, and Armenia itself is nearly empty of Armenians. An entire civilization was forced to watch as their world disintegrated around them. We cannot, should not and will not forget this tragic chapter in world history. It is a sad and shameful period. This moment allows us to reflect the dark side of human nature, a side we sometimes are unwilling to acknowledge, but acknowledge we must. If we do not remember, we are condemned to repeat our past mistakes. Mr. Speaker, I stand today with the Armenian-American community to commemorate the memories of the victims of the Armenian genocide in the hopes of such a crime against humanity will never be repeated. The Turks ravaged an entire civilization. We must heed the lessons contained in this sad and shameful period, we must remember, and we must learn never to forget. ____________________