Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day: Recognition is Just the Beginning

Last year, newly-elected President Joe Biden commemorated Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day by laying down a historic marker. After decades of shameful silence and broken promises, he offered a simple but solemn truth: 107 years ago, the Ottoman Empire undertook a systematic effort to destroy the Armenian people and ultimately murdered 1.5 million innocent men, women and children in what became the first genocide of the 20th century. 

It was a moment of recognition that tens of thousands of my constituents have been fighting for their entire lives. And it was deeply personal for me, too.

Over the years, I have met many survivors of the Genocide. I have been welcomed into their homes. I have listened to the stories of how their parents and siblings were murdered and of how their property and the lives their families built were destroyed. I have watched them relive the pain over and over again, tears streaming down their faces, all in their brave pursuit of justice.

It is because of their bravery, and the resolve of their descendants and loved ones, that in 2019, for the first time in history, the House and Senate passed resolutions by near-unanimous margins affirming the facts of the Armenian Genocide. And it is because of them that President Biden chose to become the first sitting U.S. president to recognize the Genocide for what it was – genocide.

To this very day, despite the overwhelming evidence of this methodical mass killing, Turkey continues to deny the Genocide ever happened. And for years, fear kept our own leaders from speaking out against one of the gravest violations of human rights the world has ever known.

And the consequences of being cowed into silence were severe. Because when acts of hatred and violence – whether they occurred one year or a hundred years ago – are allowed to go unrecognized, it makes it easier for future perpetrators to terrorize others with impunity.

Tragically, that is exactly what we are witnessing today in Nagorno-Karabakh – also known as Artsakh. A year and a half ago, over the course of 44 days, Azerbaijani forces targeted and murdered innocent Armenians. Thousands were killed and many others forced to flee this unprovoked war of aggression by Azerbaijan and Turkey. Still others were illegally detained, subject to torture and remain prisoners of war, and thousands more live in fear of another attack and invasion. Religious and cultural Armenian sites that have fallen under Azerbaijani control are under constant threat of desecration or destruction.

Despite a ceasefire agreement, aggression against the Armenian people continues today. And, as defenders of democracy and peace around the world, the United States must offer more than just words of solidarity.

We must do everything we can to secure more funding for Armenia and Artsakh. We must continue to call for the immediate, safe and unconditional release of the remaining Armenian prisoners of war, and captured civilians. And under no circumstances should the United States be sending a single dollar in military aid or security assistance to the Aliyev regime.

We cannot rest until peace and justice are achieved.

The words of Congress and our President are powerful. But our actions must be more powerful still. Today, let us pause to honor the martyred saints of the Armenian Genocide, and recommit ourselves and our nation to doing everything we can, today, to bring liberation to our Armenian brothers and sisters abroad, once and for all.