House Speaker Nancy Pelosi commends President Biden for recognizing the Armenian Genocide

Speaker of the House of Representatives has commended President Joe Biden for taking the historic step and joining Congress with its formal recognition on Armenian Genocide Day.

Speaker Pelosi’s full message is below:

As the Speaker of the House, it is an honor to bring the greetings of the United States Congress to the Armenian people on this solemn day of remembrance.106 years ago today, the world witnessed the beginning of one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century: the systematic murder of more than 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children by the Ottoman Empire.

But tragically, too often, the truth of this crime has been denied, and its monstrosity, minimized.

That is why, in 2019, the Congress passed legislation declaring that the barbarism committed against the Armenian people was a genocide.

And that is why, today, our hearts are full of joy that President Biden has taken the historic step to joining Congress with its formal recognition on Armenian Genocide Day.

Thank you to so many in the Armenian American community, including Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Chairman Adam Schiff, Chairman Frank Pallone and Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who made this day possible. And we are enormously grateful to President Biden for his leadership.

Each of us has the moral obligation to remember the truth and recognize this brutality for what it was – for if we ignore history, then we are destined to witness the horrors of the past be repeated.

Today and always, we honor the memories of the victims and survivors. We pledge to stand strong against violence and bigotry wherever we see it. And we commit to building a future of hope, peace and freedom for all.