Congressman Brad Sherman Commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Washington DC – Thursday April 24, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In recognition of those atrocities Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) held a special order on the house floor calling for U.S. recognition.

Video of the Special Order on the House Floor can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L86N6Yua6so

Congressman Sherman also released the following statement:

"Beginning in 1915 a planned-out government destruction of an estimated one and a half million Armenian people occurred - an event which meets all the definitions of the word ‘genocide.'

"It is our duty to honor and dignify those who lost their lives, to pay respect to their living relatives, and to ensure that these horrible events never happen again.

"While President Obama has done a lot of good work to improve relations between the United States and Armenia, I'm disappointed that he will not give the Armenian Genocide appropriate recognition as a sitting President, as he did while serving in the Senate.

"Genocide denial is the last act of a genocide and the first step in the next genocide – just as the Armenian Genocide, in part, prepared the world for the Holocaust. When Adolf Hitler sought the destruction of the Jewish people, those around him wondered how he could get away with it. Hitler pointed out that the Ottoman Empire had gotten away with it because no one remembered the genocide of the Armenians.

"That is why I have repeatedly asked my colleagues in the House and Senate to formally recognize the genocide – we cannot afford to wait another century."

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