April 16, 2004

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 04-1050


BY REPRESENTATIVES Tochtrop, Borodkin, Williams S., Berry, Boyd, Briggs, Brophy, Butcher, Cadman, Carroll, Cerbo, Clapp, Cloer, Coleman, Crane, Decker, Fairbank, Frangas, Garcia, Hall, Harvey, Hefley, Hodge, Hoppe, Jahn, Johnson R., Judd, King, Larson, Lee, Lundberg, Madden, Marshall, May M., McCluskey, McFadyen, McGihon, Merrifield, Miller, Mitchell, Paccione, Plant, Pommer, Ragsdale, Rhodes, Rippy, Romanoff, Rose, Salazar, Schultheis, Sinclair, Smith, Spence, Spradley, Stafford, Stengel, Vigil, Weddig, Weissmann, Welker, White, Wiens, Williams T., Witwer, and Young;
also SENATORS Takis, Anderson, Andrews, Arnold, Cairns, Chlouber, Dyer, Entz, Evans, Fitz-Gerald, Gordon, Groff, Grossman, Hagedorn, Hanna, Hillman, Isgar, Johnson S., Jones, Keller, Kester, Lamborn, May R., McElhany, Nichol, Owen, Phillips, Reeves, Sandoval, Tapia, Taylor, Teck, Tupa, Veiga, and Windels.


CONCERNING THE DESIGNATION OF EACH APRIL 24 AS "COLORADO DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE".


WHEREAS, From 1915 to 1923, 1.5 million men, women, and children of Armenian descent were murdered during the brutal genocide perpetrated by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, 500,000 more were exiled, and 500,000 were able to escape the regime of terror and establish themselves in new foreign lands, and, as a result, today there are only 100,000 people of Armenian heritage left residing within the borders of modern Turkey; and

WHEREAS, The United States' Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, Sr., stated, "Whatever crimes the most perverted instincts of the human mind can devise, and whatever refinements of persecutions and injustice the most debased imagination can conceive, became the daily misfortunes of this devoted people. I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915. The killing of the Armenian people was accompanied by the systematic destruction of churches, schools, libraries, treasures of art, and cultural monuments in an attempt to eliminate all traces of a noble civilization with a history of more than 3,000 years."; and

WHEREAS, Contemporary newspapers, such as the New York Times, carried headlines including "Tales of Armenian Horrors Confirmed", "Million Armenians killed or in Exile", and "Wholesale Massacre of Armenians by Turks"; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian Genocide has been acknowledged by countries and international bodies such as Argentina, Belgium, Canada, the council of Europe, Cyprus, the European parliament, France, Great Britain, Greece, Lebanon, Russia, the United Nations, and Uruguay; and

WHEREAS, Modern Turkey continues to deny and distort the facts of the genocide and to honor the perpetrators of that crime against humanity as national heroes; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian people have been denied the right to self-determination on their ancestral lands and have received no form of reparations for their tragic loss; and

WHEREAS, Each year, Armenians throughout the world honor those who perished from 1915 to 1923, and all the world's people should commemorate the Armenian Genocide and condemn any attempt to deny its historical truth or mischaracterize the episode as anything less than genocide, a crime against humanity; and

WHEREAS, We must all do our best to raise awareness about the Armenian Genocide not only because it is an undeniable chapter of world history, but also because learning more about this unconscionable tragedy will help people better understand the necessity of eliminating hatred in our own communities, and to that end, we support the efforts of Armenians of Colorado, Inc., to encourage the educators in Colorado to include the Armenian Genocide in the school curriculum; and

WHEREAS, Residents of Colorado are highly sensitive to the need for consistently remembering and openly condemning the crimes committed against any culture or people to prevent similar atrocities in the future; and

WHEREAS, On April 11, 2002, and April 24, 2003, this legislative body unanimously passed a similar joint resolution to which the roll calls were added as cosponsors designating April 24 as "Colorado Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide"; and

WHEREAS, Armenian-Americans living in Colorado have greatly enriched our state through their leadership in business, agriculture, academia, government, and the arts; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty-fourth General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:

1. That this legislative body pause in its deliberations to commemorate the 89th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide to be recognized at a memorial service on Sunday, April 25, 2004, at the Armenian Genocide memorial plaque located in the northeast quadrant on the State Capitol grounds;

2. That we, the members of the General Assembly, hereby designate each April 24 as "Colorado Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide";

3. That the State of Colorado respectfully urges the United States Congress to likewise commemorate the Armenian Genocide.

Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States; the members of the Colorado Congressional Delegation; the Honorable Bill Owens, Governor of Colorado; the Armenian Assembly of America in Washington, D.C.; and the Armenian National Committee in Washington, D.C.

Lola Spradley
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

John Andrews
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE

Judith Rodrigue
CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mona Heustis
SECRETARY OF THE SENATE

Read the official resolution from the Web site of the Colorado House of Representatives.