YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. United States Congressman Adam Schiff vows to stand with the Armenian community not only to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide but also to demand peace for Artsakh and the Armenian people.

“107 years ago, the Ottoman Empire undertook a systematic effort to destroy the Armenian people, in what became the first genocide of the 20th century. Ultimately, the Armenian Genocide took the lives of 1,5 million Armenian men, women and children,” Schiff, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee said in a video message to ARMENPRESS. “Despite overwhelming evidence of this methodical mass killing, Turkey continues to deny the genocide ever happened. They want the world to forget, but we will not forget, we will never forget. For tens of thousands of my constituents recognition of the genocide has been a lifelong struggle. It has been deeply personal for me as well. I’ve sat with the survivors of the genocide, I’ve been welcomed into their homes and heard their stories of the murders of their parents, brothers and sisters, and the destruction of their property and the lives that their families built. I’ve watched them re-live the pain with tears streaming down their faces.

For twenty years, I’ve introduced resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide, and in 2019 for the first time in history both the House and Senate passed this resolution by near-unanimous margins, affirming the facts of the Armenian Genocide.  And last year, President Joe Biden cast aside decades of shameful silence by our nation to become the first sitting US President to recognize the Armenian Genocide. These historic milestones happened because of you, a strong and resilient Armenian Diaspora.  And we remember the lives lost during the Armenian Genocide, we also remember the victims of far more recent and unprovoked violence against the Armenian people. The many who died in Artsakh, the thousands who were forced to flee from Azerbaijani and Turkish aggression and those who remain as prisoners of war, and are still living in fear today of another invasion.

I will always stand with the Armenian community to honor the victims of the genocide, and I will always stand with the Armenian community as we demand peace for Artsakh and the Armenian people, continue our cause for the safe and unconditional release of the remaining Armenian prisoners of war and do everything we can to bring liberation to our Armenian brothers and sisters abroad. I will always stand with you,” Schiff said.