WASHINGTON—Congresswoman Jackie Speier on Wednesday delivered a speech on the floor of the US House of Representatives in support of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res. 252). We present the text of her speech below:
Madam Speaker, my mother, Nancy Kanchelian, was born in 1915 in Fresno, California – the same year the Ottoman Empire began the systematic killing and deportation of millions of her fellow Armenians.
A year ago this week, my mother passed away. For her entire 93 years on earth, her country, the United States of America, refused to officially acknowledge what we know to be true. Our own Ambassador to Armenia at the time, Henry Morgenthau informed the Secretary of State: “…excesses against peaceful Armenians is increasing and… it appears that a campaign of race extermination is in progress…”
Madam Speaker, the facts here are not in dispute. The only thing left to question is not whether the Armenian Genocide took place but, rather, if we in this chamber have the moral and political backbone to stand up for the truth.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee has an opportunity this week to pass H. Res 252 and stand up for the truth.
www.speier.house.gov
Well done Jackie. You are a true American hero! Stand tall and stand strong. I am so proud of you and hope you continue your hard work as an American Armenian Congresswomen.
Thank you Ms. Jackie Speier. I see that your mother’s, the late Mrs. Nancy Kanchelian’s blood runs through your good veigns. Having been of half Jewish and half Armenian anscestry reminds me that it would be just and proper that the majority of the Jewish people in America would be able to see through your eyes and your justified view. I am sorry that you lost your mother a year ago, I lost mine a little less than half a year ago. May God bless both our mothers’ souls.