Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo issued the following statement marking one hundred and three years since the beginning of the Armenian Genocide:

"On this day 103 years ago the world bore witness to the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks and other minorities by the Ottoman Empire.

"Over 100 years after the fact, the United States government has yet to make an official statement labeling the atrocities carried out against these minorities as what they were: genocide. I'm proud to have cosponsored the Armenian Genocide Resolution in every Congress I've served in to formally recognize one of the darkest chapters in human history, and I will not rest until we are successful.

"Let us take the time today to remember the 1.5 million people who were taken from us—parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins. Each succeeding generation will hold them in their hearts and we will never forget. May we honor them by rising to the occasion and living by the words of 1 JOHN 3:18, "our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action."