Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) released the following statement after President Trump refused to recognize the Armenian Genocide on its 110th anniversary:
“In the first genocide of the last century, a million and a half Armenian men, women and children were murdered by an Ottoman Empire determined to annihilate an entire people. It took decades, but the United States finally rejected a shameful silence over the Armenian Genocide and Ankara’s campaign of threats and intimidation. As the author of the Armenian Genocide resolution in the House, I was grateful to see such recognition pass on an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote.
“Today, President Trump has retreated from recognizing the Armenian Genocide and betrayed the memory of those who were lost. This may gratify the Turkish dictator, but it is a profound setback to the cause of justice and human rights.”
View Senator Schiff’s statement commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide here.
Background: California is home to nearly 250,000 Armenian-Americans — more than half of the Armenian diaspora in the United States — and Schiff has been a strong champion for the Armenian community throughout his time in Congress.
Schiff led the effort in the U.S. Congress to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. After 20 years as the author of the resolution in Congress affirming the facts of the genocide, Congress passed his resolution in an overwhelming bipartisan vote in 2019.
In 2021, President Joe Biden became the first sitting President to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
###