Schiff reads names of Armenian Genocide victims on House floor

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) on Wednesday took to the U.S. House of Representatives floor to read the names of 1,000 people killed during the Armenian Genocide.

After business concluded in the House for the day, Schiff spent an hour reading the names of constituents’ relatives and those in the Armenian-American community that were submitted over the past two weeks to his office through social media and email.

As each name was read, Schiff also tweeted the names, along with the hashtag #NeverForget1915, in reference to the 100-year anniversary of the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.

Schiff’s reading of the names came the day after the White House confirmed that President Obama would not use the word “genocide” when he issues a statement today on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

“In a single hour, I was only able to read the names of a mere fraction of those who were killed in the Armenian Genocide,” Schiff said in a statement. “To read all of the names of the more than 1.5 million people murdered at the time would take many weeks, and I hope that the recitation of the victims will help call attention to the magnitude of the crime. A name, unlike a number, is no abstraction — each was a son or daughter, a mother or father, a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle; each was a precious life.”