Mr. Chairman, I want to begin by congratulating the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) and the ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), for their outstanding work on the bill. I think they both have done a great job in advancing America's foreign policy priorities at an especially difficult time in our history.
I was particularly please to see the committee wisely provides $65 million in economic aid for Armenia, $3 million more than the administration's request, and that the committee wisely restored the parity in security assistance between Armenia and Azerbaijan by funding military aid and education assistance to both Armenia and Azerbaijan at $6 million.
Today, I offer a simple amendment that will honor the 1 1/2 million Armenians who perished in the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923. I consider this a sacred obligation, to ensure that the men, women and children who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Empire are not lost to history and that this Congress not fund shameful efforts to deny that the genocide occurred.
Time is the ally of those who would deny or change history. Such has it been, regrettably, by those who would continue to deny the undeniable facts of the murder of 1 1/2 million people, the first genocide of last century.
My amendment tonight seeks only to prohibit the use of funds to lobby against H. Res. 193, the resolution which includes a reference to the Armenian Genocide and reaffirms the support of Congress for the genocide convention and commemorates the anniversary of our becoming a party to this landmark legislation. It will not deprive countries of funding that they need for legitimate purposes, but no appropriations under this bill or any other bill should be used by other governments to lobby this Congress against legislation, and particularly legislation that reaffirms our commitment to the convention on genocide and the recognition of the victims of the Armenian Genocide as well as the victims of many other genocides in the history of mankind.
Among historians there is no dispute about what happened to the Armenian people. There is no dispute that it was genocide. Thousands of pages of documents sit in our National Archives, newspapers of the day were replete with stories about the murder of Armenians: "Appeal To Turkey To Stop Massacres,'' headlined the New York Times on April 28, 1915, just as the killing began.
On October 7 of that year, the Times reported that 800,000 Armenians had been slain in cold blood in Asia Minor. In mid-December of 1915, the Times spoke of a million Armenians killed or in exile.
In 1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust, the international community responded to Nazi Germany's methodically orchestrated acts of genocide by approving the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It confirms that genocide is a crime under international law and defines genocide as actions committed with intent to destroy a nation, ethnic, racial or religious group.
The United States under President Truman was the first nation to sign the convention. Last year marked the 15th anniversary of President Reagan signing the Genocide Convention Implementation Act.
Just over a year ago, I introduced H. Res. 193 with my colleagues, the gentleman from California (Mr. Radanovich), the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg), and other Members of this House. This should have been an easy resolution for all of us now to support on the House floor. Genocide is the most abhorrent crime known to human kind; and, unfortunately, it is happening in the Sudan as we speak.
The reason we have not yet succeeded in passing this resolution is simple. The government of Turkey refuses to acknowledge the genocide, and the strongest nation on Earth fears their reaction if we do.
110 of my colleagues have co-sponsored this resolution, and I expect it would pass overwhelmingly if given the chance. At the very least we should not fund efforts to silence our voices.