03/04/10 - Remarks offered during House Committee on Foreign Affairs markup of H. Res. 252 --- Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and let me thank you and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen for bringing this bill, H. Res. 252 for consideration before the committee. I am one of those who will be at the White House, and I just want to register my support for the bill. I am going to try to get back before the vote, Mr. Chairman, but I join my colleagues today in recognition of one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century, the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian Genocide, of course, began in 1915 when Armenian leaders were rounded up, deported, and killed. One-and-a-half million Armenians were murdered, and countless others displaced and deported. The world must not forget the Armenian Genocide nor the lives that this event claimed. We should never ever forget this, and this resolution I think is extremely important in this day and time. Many political leaders, scholars, and professional organizations have worked tirelessly to acknowledge this devastating event to the Armenian people.

And there are still a number of survivors of the genocide here in our own country, many of their children and grandchildren who reside throughout our country. We must never forget the heinous
acts that victimized their families. If we let such atrocities be forgotten then we are in danger of letting them be repeated, and I have to thank my colleague Congressman Adam Schiff who has for so long tried to get this Congress to do the right thing, so thank you, Congressman Schiff, for your leadership and for staying strong in spite of the oppositions that you are faced with.

Even now, in the twenty-first century, we have watched for years as genocide has ravaged Darfur. The Holocaust, slavery. I am an African-American, descendant of slaves. These horrific events of
our time must always be remembered. Since the Darfur genocide, for example, it began in 2003, hundreds of villages have been destroyed, an estimated 2.7 million people have been displaced and more than 400,000 people have died.

So this resolution again reminds us that we must do everything within our power to ensure atrocities like these never happen again or risk condemning our children to a world caught in a cycle of hate and bloodshed.

And so with that in mind I urge my colleagues on this committee to support this resolution. We have no option but to do that. Thank you again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Congressman Schiff, for your leadership.

10/7/2009 - Albert Wynn of the Dickstein Shapiro, LLP phoned Julie Nixon regarding Turkish Ambassador's upcoming lecture at Howard University.