Today, Rep. Adam Schiff, for an entire hour on the House Floor, will read the names of a small fraction of the 1.5 million people killed during the Armenian Genocide after business concludes in the House for the day.  It will be broadcast on C-SPAN at approximately 5:00 pm EST/2:00 pm PST.  It comes the day after the White House confirmed to Armenian-American community leaders that the President would not use the word genocide when he issues a statement Friday on the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

“In a single hour, I will only be able to read the names of a mere fraction of those who were killed in the Armenian Genocide,” said Schiff. “To read all of the names of the more than 1.5 million people murdered at the time, would take many weeks and weeks, and I hope that the recitation of the victims will help call attention to the magnitude of the crime. A name, unlike a number, is no abstraction – each was a son or daughter, a mother or father, a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle; each was a precious life.”