ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87B00858R000400580033-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 2, 2011
• Sequence Number: 33
• Publication Date: April 22, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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S 4650 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE
April 22, 1986
Second, my bill contains a special There are those who wish to explain leave their homes and march hun-
rule exempting certain reorganizations away the suffering of the Armenian dreds of miles, while being denied food
of failing thrifts and savings and loans people as a part of the general confla- and water for the duration of their
from the new limits on the use of car- gration of World War I. There are also journey; Hundreds of thousands died
ryovers. This exemption applies only those who seek to forget the particu. from the exhaustion, and hundreds of
to reorganizations described in section lar suffering of the Armenian people thousands more from starvation. In
368(a)(3)(D)(ii), and only if the reorga- on the grounds that to remember is to all, more than 2 million Armenians
nization is completed before January give justification to terrorist acts com- were affected by the deportation
1, 1991. I have included this provision witted by so-called "Armenian terror- policy.
because a similar exception applies ists." Mr. President, I reject both as- Those who survived the genocide
under current law. I am not entirely sertions. Yes, others did suffer in fled throughout the world. Many emi-
convinced that this exception is war- World War I, but recognition of that grated to other parts of the Middle
ranted, but I do believe we should ad- fact ought not forbid us from paying East, to Western Europe, and to the
dr
dress the se specifically in ththe e special tribute to a people who suf- United States. Others joined Armeni-
Senate time, the Federal Home Loan able death a suffering in unspeak- ans in the Soviet Union, where they
present . Bank Board and the Federal Savings Mr. President, there are few who public ifoundedin an i 8. Unfortunately, Ar-
and Loan Insurance Corporation rely oppose terrorism as strongly as I da vienian people Unately, the to
heavily on the existing exception in and I forthrightly condemn acts com- the tyranny eople were soon subjected to
making failing thrifts attractive in- mitted by a very small number of Ar- the tyrof the Sae regime, as
vestments to prospective purchasers. menians. But those acts cannot permit well. Today, there are more than Armenian
It is not a great secret that the FSLIC as to forget the events of 1915-23. To the,000 United SAmericans living In
is experiencing severe financial prob- forget to remain silent, is fa United States, t members perish many of whom had
lems. Before exacerbating its problems perhaps to family m de. For pover he lion in-
with a change in the tax laws, we lrvmeSt those horrors to repeat them- an Genocide. Fthe oe1 million in-
should at a minimum have a lively As one of the leaders in the recently were e cent men,xterminated atedn, and
th children who
debate on this issue. Finally, if it is de- successful effort to ratify the Geno- 1915we by specie al Tuday rks from
termined to retain this type of excep- Bide Convention, I strongly believe memberance 1915-17, we owe a spec shameful event.
r.
tion, we should also examine whether that we have an absolute obligation to The book is not yet shameful the Ara similar rule should apply to reorga- remember the evils committed against The book is nod yet closed the the greatest menlan nizations of financially troubled banks the people of Armenia I do so in rec- crimes ga Genocide,
humanity ne of tat the hist-
insured by the Federal Deposit Insur- ognition of a universal principal that ry against huin the histo
ance Corporation. every people has the _ r3' of civilize you, M.
Third, unlike the provisions of the tected from the sin of genocide.be pro- Thank you, Mr. President.
House tax reform bill, my bill would
eliminate the continuity of business
requirement the as a beret prerequisite of s the 71ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMMEMORATING THE
carryover of net operating losses fol ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
lowing a change in ownership. Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I rise Mr. GLENN. Mr. President, I rise
Fourth, my bill resolves specifically today to speak on an incident that oc- today to join my colleagues in pausing
the confusion over what laws are cur- curred over 70 years ago, but that has to remember the first but sadly not
rently applicable to net operating loss endured in our memories throughout the last genocide of the 20th century.
carryovers by providing an effective this century as one of the most hei- On April 24, 1915 some 200 Armenian
date of January 1, 1987. At the same nous acts man could
time, the 1976 amendments would be against man: the Armenian Gerpetrate nociide. leaders ereoarreessted and in Cons ltantino-
repealed. The result Is that pre-1976 As a sponsor of Senate Joint Resolu- ple, and exiled or taken to the Interior
law would be applicable through De- tion 101, a bill to designate a "Nation- and killed. Over the next 8 years a mil-
cember 31, 1986, and thereafter the al Day of Remembrance of Man's In- lion-and-a-half Armenians perished
provisions of my bill would apply. I do humanity to Man," I continue to be and another half million fled their
note that we may wish to consider a outraged over the considerable igno.
July in to
transition rule permitting taxpayers to rance that surrounds the Armenian the Secretary On of State te, t a cable s-
elect to have the 1976 amendments Genocide. Under Turkish Ottoman bassador to the Ooman U.S. ESmpi~re,
apply to transactions occurring in 1986 rule, one-and-a-half million Armenians Henry Morgenthau, stated:
prior to the date of enactment of my perished between the years 1915 to Deportation of and excesses against peace-
bill. 1923. Even though the Turkish at- ful Armenians is increasing
In conclusion, I believe my bill repre. tempt to systematically eliminate the ro and from ear-
sents a significant improvement over Armenian race is well documented, ~g reports ? of eye witnesses it onis in
ars
current law, over the 1976 amend- United States Government stil dothe that a ses progress under retrace ext of re riisalag in
ments, and over the applicable provi- not officially recognize this tragic rebellion. p against
sions of the House tax reform bill. I dent. inci-
am hopeful that we will enact my bill Mr. President, after far too many contemplatingathe final solution asked
quickly and finally put to rest the years, the Senate finally passed the "Who remembers the Armenians?"
question.of the treatment of net oper- Genocide Convention. But, signing a Thus our urpose ere is
ating loss carryovers following sub- treaty is not enough. It is equally im- more than to simply esy much
stantial changes in the ownership of a portent to appropriately remember fact of history; it is torrenewao are-
corporation. acts of genocide. Regardless of the re- solve to do everything lations we have with a we can to im -
nation, the Armenian Genocide must that
upon such a any tragedy people is never again vii.
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE y world anywhere on this
Mr. BOSCHWITZ. Mr. President. I never
The decision to undertake this geno- yet rid The world i scourge regrettably, not
rise today, April 22, 1986, to com- cide of Armenian was a conscious one. yet tragedy sw of llowe genocided The
memorate the 71st anniversary of a In their policy of genocide, the Turks horrors of e Holocaust, and then
genocide that resulted in the death of gathered entire communities aboard much more recently by the massacre
1.5 million Armenians in the years sea vessels, and then drowned them. of Cambodians. Because our century
1915-23. That tragedy was the first in Live babies were thrown into pits and has seen such horrors is, to me, not an
a series of holocausts that have then covered with stones. Confronted argument for trying to forget, rather
marred the 20th century and that con- with the threat of death, more than 1 it impels us to remember. And in re-
tinue to this very day. million Armenians were forced to membering we vow to be 'igilant
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April 22, 1986
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE
84651
against any further repetitions of such ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
horrendous
'
examples of man
s inhu-
manity to man.
In the words of Edmund Burke:
The only thing necessary for the triumph
of evil is for good men to do nothing.
In memory of all victims of genocide,
let us reaffirm our commitment, as in-
dividuals and as a nation, never to
allow, through indifference or inac-
tion, any future repetitions of the
tragic legacy of genocide in the 20th
century.
Mr. METZENBAUM. Mr. President,
I rise today to recall the systematic
execution of more than 1? million Ar-
menians at the hands of the Ottoman
Turks. This first act of genocide in the
twentieth century has too often been
relegated to the footnotes of history
and conveniently forgotten. It is our
duty to recognize this horrific act of
man's inhumanity to man and once
again pledge our Nation's commitment
to prevent future crimes of genocide.
On February 19 of this year, the
Senate finall
t
d t
y vo
e
o ratify the
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE Genocide Convention. In the humane
Mr. PELL. Mr. President, this week spirit of this action, I believe it is fit-
marks the 71st anniversary of the ting to remember the suffering of the
genocide perpetrated against the Ar- Armenian people.
menian people by the Ottoman Empire Between 1915 and. 1923, the Otto-
during World War I. Today, I am man Government sanctioned the
pleased to join Armenians throughout murder of over 1.5 million Armenian
the world in paying tribute to the vic- Christians and drove hundreds of
tims and survivors of this evil crime. thousands more permanently away
Before World War I, Armenians, a from their ancestral homeland under
the
gentle and highly Cultured people, de- lages of Armenians uise rnians wee ford ly y de-
manded only tolerance and freedom ported, thousands peasants were
from the rulers of the Ottoman portmore pesaors wore
Empire. In response, Ottoman rulers kidnaped and exiled. Many or most
launched a coordinated drive to round disease, the deportees died of
st tions arvation,
up and eliminate every Armenian man, the , Armenian inexposure. Large and of
woman, and child. In 1915, the empire were proand
began deporting Armenians and from sional classes were and
that time until the empire collapsed, simply slaughtered.
an estimated L5 million Armenians- After the First World War, the Ar-
Ar-
some 60 percent of the Armenian pop-
ulation-were killed or died of disease
or exposure. Today, we honor those
courageous individuals who were ex-
terminated for no other reason than
that their national heritage was con-
sidered alien by those who ruled the
Ottoman Empire.
The modern state of Turkey bears
no responsibility for the tragic acts
committed by the Ottoman Empire
against the Armenian people. It
should, however, acknowledge that
these events took place. Kemal Ata-
taurk did so many years ago when he
condemned the massacres of millions
by his Ottoman predecessors. The
present government should do no less.
The Armenian genocide reminds us
that man possesses the pernicious
quality of bigotry and the capacity to
be cruel. We must never forget the
despicable, inhuman treatment suf-
fered by the Armenians at the hands
of their fellow men. To do so- as the
menians sent a delegation seeking jus-
tice to the peace conference at Ver-
sailles. However, the great powers
gathered there failed to act against
those responsible for the Armenian
genocide. One hundred and fifty Turks
who were among those allegedly in-
volved in the genocide were released
unpunished from British Jails. No war
crimes trials followed World War I.
There were no opportunities for the
victims of the Armenian genocide to
gain some semblance of legal retribu-
tion. There was no Nuremburg.
Fortunately, one man, Prof. Raphael
Lemkin, championed the cause of the
Armenian people. At the International
Conference on the Unification of
Criminal Law, held in Madrid in 1933,
Lemkin proposed "to declare the de-
struction of racial, religious, or social
collectivities" a crime under interna-
tional law. Raphael Lemkin coined the
word "genocide" in 1944 to describe
the Nazi Holocaust of World War II.
invite a repetition of what may be numan conscience an abhorrence of
man's most reprehensible crime, gene- genocide calling for international par-
ide. ticipation in the Genocide Convention.
The way to commemorate the suf- Turkey today, unlike Germany, re-
fehe of the Armenian people is f- fuses to admit responsibility for its act
seep tof memory of the Armenian of genocide. The Turkish denial need-
ieep
nocide h alive and to reaffirm our lessly perpetuates bitter animosity on
the part
,ommitment to human life and digni- States and of elsewhere. in the for the
:y. The Senate recently took an impor- Government States
Turkey It to time for the
officially ac-
Ant and in my view much delayed knowledge its s responsibility for its
;tep toward reaffirming this commit- crimes of 1915 to 1923 and for its
nent by approving the Genocide Con- apologize d publicly
hto people.
!ention. Now we must eliminate the We cthe t to
!vil of genocide from the heart of chapters. cannot to Lessons o Purge Armenian ter hieroy are ts ugly
nankind so that the victims of the Ar- important ror arjust an
nenian genocide did not die in vain, compassion
and valor. alor. as lessons of
An enlightened knowledge
of our barbaric past is the only
weapon we may bear to prevent future
acts of genocide. Should another mad
man ask the question, as Hitler did-
"who remembers the Armenians?"-we
must all be able to answer-"I do."
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, 2
months ago the Senate of the United
States gave its advice and consent to
the International Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide, a document signed
by the United States in 1948 and sub-
mitted to the Senate the following
year. Ratification of the convention
after nearly 37 years is a symbol of our
commitment to the future; It is also a
remembrance of the past, our com-
memoration of genocide's tragic vic-
tims.
Our century, so notable for progress
in other ways, has been profoundly
scarred by genocide, a crime of such
magnitude that it is difficult to grasp
its dimensions or determine precisely
the number of its victims. Indeed, the
word genocide is itself a mid-twenti-
eth-century word, coined in an effort
to come to terms with the tragedy of
deliberate mass extermination.
We do not live in the past, but we
cannot live without it. To ignore or
forget the past is to remain its captive;
remembrance and understanding are
the means of coming to grips with its
legacy.
That is why we take time today to
mark the appalling, systematic assault
committed 71 years ago against the
Armenian people. The Armenian mas-
sacres, as they were called, uprooted
an entire nation, deliberately eliminat-
ed its leaders and intellectuals and left
the survivors homeless, scattering
them around the world. One and one-
half million persons are estimated to
have perished in a train of events of
which the then-U.S. Ambassador,
Henry Morgenthau, wrote:
I am confident that the whole history of
the human race contains no such horrible
episode as this. The great massacres and
persecutions of the past seem almost insig-
nificant when compared to the sufferings of
the Armenian race in 1915.
This day has special meaning for Ar-
menians everywhere. Having lived
with tragedy-few families were unaf-
fected by it-they are committed to
the proposition that their experience
has meaning for all of us. And indeed,
in the face of such tragedy remem-
brance and understanding are univer-
sal imperatives, essential to decent
people and decent societies; they
cannot be the special province only of
the survivors.
Americans of Armenian descent,
who have distinguished themselves in
every aspect of our national life, have
at the same Sme kept alive the rich
traditions of their unique heritage.
Consider the story of Dr. Vartan Gre-
gorian, President of the New York
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S 4652
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE April 22, 1986
Public Library, who came to this coun-
try in 1956 in search of an education
because, in the words of a recent pro-
file by Philip Hamburger:
Some instinct told him that America was
the place for him.
In my own State of Maryland, Arme-
nian Americans play a vital role in our
pluralistic and democratic society, and
their contributions to our cultural,
social political and economic life are
varied and unique.
We join our Armenian American
friends, neighbors and colleagues in
marking this day. The Armenian trag-
edy has meaning for all of us. As citi-
zens of a free nation, founded on the
ideals of human dignity and freedom,
we commemorate the Armenian geno-
cide to pay tribute to the memory of
its victims, and above all to reaffirm
our own determination to see that so
terrible a crime shall never be repeat-
ed.
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I suggest
the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the
roll.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
Chair, acting in his capacity as the
Senator from Vermont, rescinds the
order for the calling of the quorum.
RECESS UNTIL 2 P.M.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
hour of 12 o'clock having been
reached, under the previous order, the
Senate will stand in recess until the
hour of 3 p.m.
Thereupon, the Senate, at 12 noon,
recessed until 1:59 p.m. whereupon,
the Senate reassembled when called to
order by the Presiding Officer [Mr.
HECHT].
Mr. MATHIAS. Mr. President, I sug-
gest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the
roll.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President. I
ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. With-
out objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, how tion to this 4.9 average. But let us
much time remains on the resolution, repeat that number. Defense grew 4.9
and how is it divided? percent in real terms for each of those
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 5 years.
Senator from New Mexico has 24 It has been said many times that the
hours and 9 minutes. The Senator decade of the seventies was a rather
from Florida has 24 hours and 41 min- bad decade for defense. It has been
utes. said that we cut defense substantially
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I during that decade and those reduc-
suggest the absence of a quorum, and I _ tions led to the decade of the 1980's
ask unanimous consent that the time when we had to rebuild defense. Our
consumed be equally divided. research would indicate that this
With-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. With statement is indeed true. As a matter
out objection, it is so ordered. of fact, in the 5 years from 1970 to
The clerk will call the roll. 1975, defense declined by 5.5 percent
The bill clerk proceeded to call the 1 So instead of more
-
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I
ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. With-
out objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I
yield myself 10 minutes off the resolu-
tion.
Mr. President, we have had a lot of
inquiries from Senators as to how the
United States budget has changed
since 1981, during the 5 years that I
have been chairman of the Budget
Committee and the Republicans have
been in control of the U.S. Senate and
President Reagan has been in the
White House. Obviously, during that
same period of time the House has
been controlled by the Democratic
Party.
I hope that some of the Senators
and their staff that are concerned
with fiscal problems and philosophies
of government would review a summa-
ry table that I will put in the RECORD
today. The table covers four 5-year pe-
riods of time, 1965 to 1970, 1970 to
1975, 1975 to 1980, and 1980 to 1985.
I think there is some extremely rele-
vant information and some interesting
food for thought for those who
wonder whether we have been doing
an adequate job of containing the Fed-
eral Government's expenditures; in
rms. ,
in re
money and growth in defense for that
decade, a defense spending declined by
5.2 percent in real terms.
The next 5 years, 1975 to 1980, saw a
slight rekindling of concern for de-
fense, and defense experienced real in-
creases of 1.2 percent. And now we get
to 1980 to 1985 and we find that the
defense buildup of these United States
grew on average, in real terms, by 6.3
percent.
If inflation in any of those years was
8 or 9 percent-and my recollection is
that clearly it was that high, if not
higher for a couple of those years-
then the nominal growth would be the
6.3 plus that inflation.
Let me say, before I leave the de-
fense issue, that I give these summa-
ries'In no way saying that we have to
dramatically reduce defense now, nor
am I saying that it must continue to
grow at 6.3 percent for the next 5
years. I am merely making the case for
those who are concerned as to wheth-
er we really did as much as we set out
to do in 1981.
Now we move to entitlements-and
everyone knows that the principal en-
titlements, are Social Security, Medi-
care, the two major pension plans and
a couple of other programs.
Let me do the same 5-year cycles.
particular, in those areas that are Between 1965 and 1970, entitlements
called discretionary appropriations. If increased by 9.1 percent real growth.
you look at what is proposed by way of In the next 5-year cycle, 1970 to 1975,
additional cuts by the President of the entitlements increased by 11.1 percent
United States in his budget, I think it real growth. Again, I repeat, real
is fair to say that an overwhelming growth means you do not count infla-
portion of those savings would come tion.
out of what we would call discretion- In the 5-year period of 1975 to 1980,
CONCLUSION OF MORNING ary appropriations. entitlements grew by 3.9 percent in
BUSINESS So I would like to share with the real terms. For 1980 to 1985, entitle-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morn- Members of the Senate the following: melts grew 3.4 percent in real terms.
ing business is closed. I would like to look at what we spent
f 441 N +1 So while entitlements make up per-
n al Defe nc e for the years
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON
THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 1987
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
clerk will report Senate Concurrent
Resolution 120.
The assistant legislative clerk read
as follows:
A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 120)
setting forth the congressional budget for
the United States Government for the fiscal
years 1987, 1988, and 1989.
The Senate resumed consideration
of the concurrent resolution.
or e a o
1965 to 1970. I would then like to take haps as much as 46 percent of the na-
the three 5-year periods thereafter; tional budget, they too have declined
and, since it is rather relevant to an " from 11.1 percent real growth in 1970
adequate defense and to what we are to 1975, to 3.4 percent real growth in
doing toward a defense buildup to con- 1980 through 1985. Some of the de-
sider how much the defense budget clines is due to reform, obviously.
grew or did not grow during each Some of the declines is the result of
of these time intervals. Let me start COLA adjustments. Some of that, or
with this: the biggest part,, is because inflation
For the timeframe 1965 to 1970 na- came down and had a major effect on
tional defense spending grew annually the entitlement programs. Some of
in real terms 4.9 percent. Now, I stress the fast-growing entitlements have
"in real terms." To get nominal been reformed in that period of time
growth, you would have to add infla- and that also is a major reason.
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