Rep. Schiff submits more Armenian Genocide Survival Stories into Congressional Record

June 11, 2010 - 10:56 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) submitted additional stories from survivors of the Armenian Genocide to be included in the Congressional Record – the second set of many submissions into the national record as part of the new Armenian Genocide Congressional Record Project.

“I submitted three more survivors’ stories of the Armenian Genocide as part of a greater effort to make their experiences part of the national record,” Rep. Schiff said. “This is another in a series of submissions to help document the harrowing stories of the survivors, preserve their accounts, and to help educate the Members of Congress now and in the future on the necessity of recognizing the Armenian Genocide.”

The stories were submitted by Kay Mouradian, EdD, Professor Emerita Education, Los Angeles Community Colleges, and by Katia Kusherian, whose mother is 95 years old and also contributed by providing details included in the stories.

The Armenian Genocide resolution

The resolution affirming the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide (H.Res.252) was formally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Adam Schiff (D.-CA), George Radanovich (R.-CA), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D.-NJ), and Mark Kirk (R.-Ill). On March 4, 2010 it was adopted with a 22-21 vote by the House Committee on Foreign Relations. A similar resolution was introduced in the Senate.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.