oh families of survivors and families of those who perished forever and clergy ladies and gentleman good afternoon and welcome to the state i just have to say that looking out at all of you enough to see of armenian and american flags this is a truly special special moment thank you all so much for being here my name is jonathan hacked a representative for watertown and cambridge and i will be master of ceremonies for the state house commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of your armenian genocide for the last seven years it has been my great honor to help organize and lead the annual state house commemoration of your armenian genocide i want to acknowledge the other current members of the legislature w as many of you know the annual state house commemoration is a tradition that goes back thirty years to speaker george var normally we hold the commemoration inside in the house chamber it is a deeply moving event filled with prayer music and i want to remember us of the genocide committed against the armenians in turkey early in the last century this year as part of the statewide commemoration we are here in the open air before the world to send a strong message one hundred years is far far too long your entire international community including our own government in washington acknowledge the historical truth of the armenian genocide genocide is a crime against all humanity it is the cause of all humanity to ensure that no genocide is ever denied or forgotten we in massachusetts are committed to this cause to honoring and comforting the victims survivors and descendants of the armenian genocide to upholding justice and the truth of those tragic events and to preventing the recurrence of genocide anywhere in the world i am proud to say that we have with us today the highest leaders of the commonwealth as majority leader of the senate sen chandler is the second highest ranking member of that body among her many accomplishments in the legislature she has been a champion for social justice and for promoting the health of all our residents especially children i know she takes particular pride in representing the larger vibrant armenian community in the western region please join me in welcoming senate majority leader alrea thank you representative hacked honored guests members of the armenian community and dear friends today we remember the lives that were lost beginning one hundred years ago today april twenty brings renewed hope for resolution over the decades the armenian community has exemplified resiliency and commitment to accountability for all that was lost one hundred years ago looking around we see how the armenian community has truly flourish and prosper in massachusetts massachusetts hosts the second largest armenian community in the united states after california thank you i would also like to know that the first armenian church in the nation was a stop pushed in worcester which i represent i say it is time for the turkish government to acknowledge that it indeed it was a genocide only government of twenty five countries and forty three states in the united states recognize the event as a genocide this week the european parliament and the pope acknowledge the event as a until it is recognized the armenian people wherever they are in the world will lack closure to the tragedy that happened one hundred years ago but pretty day we celebrate the armenian community and their rich in presence in the united states through this commemoration ceremony at the state house we seek to honor those who have lost their lives and given and have been given  also those who have found refuge here we hope that this centennial marks a new beginning for the greater our meeting in a community across the world thank you to member of the legislature since nine hundred ninety one and was first elected speaker in two thousand and nine his many outstanding achievements as a member and speaker of the house include landmark legislation on economic development public safety and expanding opportunity for persons with disabilities every year since he became speaker speaker dileo has personally attended and addressed the state house genocide thank you very much representative hack for that very kind introduction i don't also like to say for those of you who during the national anthems of the united states in our media good afternoon to all of you and thank you so much for joining us here today over the past few years i have the distinct honor to host this commemoration in the house chamber as we mark the one hundredth history that i feel exemplifies democracy it's like a see is particularly right president today when as we mark this solemn occasion we also celebrate the armenian community and the contributions that immigrants and their descendants have made to public life in our great state i came to this issue through the traditions of the house of representatives as was just mentioning one of my great predecessors speaker could v began this commemoration years ago he had the courage to speak up at a time when many americans the don't know about the genocide and by the way i'd like to mention his grand nieces with us here you leaders like speaker could very and i have learned more about the armenian heritage and the armenian genocide it's interesting to note that before my first year a speaker as we went to the commemoration and get a couple of things first of all i tried to speak to peter confusion to help me with the i mean in language that did not work out very well but secondly i had me a book which i think the governor now has one that someone had given me it was a book by the i mean an author a late it's called the burning tigers which i'm sure many of you know i still keep that book in my office in that through the book i learned that there was a group of hopeful americans committed to raising awareness of the genocide even it even as it was happening during world war one that is our past and as we look towards the future i hope that events like this will encourage people all across this nation in the world to fully completely recognize these atrocities for what they were a genocide to carry on their legacy to make sure that the world never forgets all the way in the event here is today there will be a procession to the american army and heritage park on the greenway as american values as humans as americans we must ensure that human spirit i was shines in humanity today's commemoration will help  renewed that committed thank you so much for having me here today governor baker has had a distinguished career in both the private and public sectors with a focus on health care and human services his first one hundred days in office has shown an admirable spirit of collaboration and willingness to tackle tough problems with fresh ideas and energy governor we were touched by your remarks at last night's memorial service at trinity church and we are deeply grateful for your presence here today it means so much to all of us who care about the armenian genocide to know that our governor stands with us ladies and gentleman governor baker thank you very much representative ed thank you all for being here today and mr speaker let me just tell you that my good friend bob avakian also thought it would be helpful if i said a few things that armenian until you heard me try and then he said governor just stick to what you're good at he's running somewhere he was thank you bob big help hundred yes friends and i just want to add attorney general the attorney general maury healy the auditor says the treasurer never goldberg thank you so much for doing to know is your government are i stand proudly with the armenian american community and this issue the armenian american community is a wonderful force for good in the commonwealth of massachusetts senator chairman pointed out this state is home to the oldest armenian church in america and outside of california which is a little bigger than we are we have the second largest armenian community in the nation and we will never forget ever that one hundred years ago over a million armenians were killed by the ottoman empire we will never forget noble and notable to help save those who survived the genocide at that time but as i stand here and look out at some of the pictures around me we should never forget those who were lost it was mentioned that the pope spoke to this earlier this week when she said unless we stop the bleeding and the wound it will continue to bleed of francisco they're called on world leaders to stand up against the denial of the armenian genocide and as i wrote home last night i noticed that the chancellor of germany stood up and just that yesterday called good for  this issue and educate our students about the history of the armenian genocide in public schools through the facing history curriculum and we are hopeful that through this learning and through education future generations about these tragic events we can do our part to ensure that they never happen again now bob this is for you god bless your media i also want to add my thanks to the other constitutional officers who are here with us today we really appreciate your presence it means again so much to know that so many of our leading government officials in this state stand with all of us and with the armenian community on this cause thank you several times we heard mention today of george very him who was a great army an american and a great speaker of the massachusetts house through the years the massachusetts legislature has been enriched by other noted armenian americans including my predecessor rachael thank current state representative james misselling whose grandmother was an armenian genocide surviv this last january we welcome to you know their outstanding armenian americans to our rights representative david murray you know grafton has quickly made his mark as a skilled and collegial legislator and he has become a key member of our team of armenians by birth and by choice who have the privilege to organize this annual commemoration ladies and gentlemen please welcome representative david in radio of my friends thank you for taking part in the statehouse commemoration as my good friend paul he said my name's david murray didn't i have the privilege of being the state representative of the towns of grafton north bridge you know which has many armenians in like myself and like most of you in our communities i do want to thank all the elected officials the governor speaker senate majority leader in the many distinguished guests who are here today standing strong to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the armenian genocide as the governor said one hundred years ago nine hundred fifteen most armenian doctors educators writers intellectuals lawyers and community leaders were rounded up and viciously killed or forced into death marches leading into the syrian desert this massacre left one and a half million armenians that genocide across the world has had a profound effect and that rings true right here in the massachusetts legislature we have had our share of median members as we just re the cambodian genocide was elected making him the first him body and representative elected in the house of representatives armenian genocide for any projects of presentations i grew up on stories of the old country from my great uncle nick who unfortunately is no longer with us but it's because of him that i've taken such a great pride in my heritage i sit here to this day i'm astonished that any individual can say that this was not a systematic attempt to destroy our people however i am proud to say that massachusetts recognizes the commencement of this genocide every year and none more feeling than this the one hundredth anniversary we have even seen pope francis come out and call on world leaders to stand up against the denial of the armenian genocide even some of our united states presidents past and present come short in using the word genocide absolute disgrace that maintaining relations is more important than honoring our history only must recognize the happenings of one hundred years ago our wounds have started to heal but we all have scars that remain but healing process truly begins when all involved take responsibility for their role we will never be able to change what happened but we can all help with continuing to educate so that this history never repeats itself i must tell you why my great father refused to give up his slippers and it was from all his hard work that allowed him to buy them because he was too proud to give them up and that's what we are we are too proud to will continue to teach individuals of our history and show our pride in our heritage we must take time to reflect to remember all of our family and friends whose lives were taken away from them but we also must take time to appreciate how just one hundred years ago our heritage was yeah we are here today and we're proud to become those doctors those educators those writers those intellectuals those community leaders just returned from washington d c just last night where i was participated in the congressional commemoration where we called all the members of congress in the united states senate to come down and speak about our genocide and there were hundreds of our people there and there were dozens of senators and congressmen that took time to be there despite they were rushing out for flight despite they were rushing out for other appointments to be there to stand and speak with our community one after the other after the other and it ma me proud to know the club the power the influence and the belief that we have in washington d c across this nation perseverant we have succeeded or failed we are here we have defeated them so we must understand that while we commemorate our loss while we think of our genocide something we must do we must always never be ah ah ah one hundred years