Extensions of Remarks E211 EXTENSIONS of REMARKS
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February 28, 2013 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E211 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS HONORING THE VICTIMS OF was greeted as a hero by the Azeri govern- his exceptional dedication to duty and service SUMGAIT ment and promenaded through the streets of to the Department of Defense, spanning over Baku carrying a bouquet of roses. President a 43-year career, in honor of his retirement at HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF Ilham Aliyev immediately pardoned Safarov the end of September 2012. OF CALIFORNIA and he was promoted to the rank of major and Mr. Galligan enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in February 1969 and served on Active Duty until IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES given a new apartment and eight years of back pay. February 1993. His uniformed service included Thursday, February 28, 2013 In recent weeks, 75–year–old Akram Aylisli, two combat tours in Vietnam, assignments at Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, this week marks one of Azerbaijan’s most celebrated writers, bases in Germany and stateside, and 11 the twenty–fifth anniversary of the pogrom has been subjected to a campaign of hatred. years as administrative assistant and Con- against people of Armenian descent in the According to a report in the BBC, ’[h]is books gressional courier on the Comptroller’s staff at town of Sumgait, Azerbaijan. The three–day have been publicly burnt. He has been the Pentagon. With his retirement from the Air massacre in the winter of 1988 resulted in the stripped of his national literary awards. And a Force, he transitioned to a civilian role and deaths of scores of Armenians, many of whom high–ranking Azeri politician has offered continued to serve the Comptroller organiza- were burnt to death after being brutally beaten $13,000 as a bounty for anyone who will cut tion for another 19 years. and tortured. Hundreds of others were wound- off his ear. Aylisi’s ’crime?’— in his short novel In his capacity, including three decades in ed. Women and girls were brutally raped. The Stone Dreams, he dared to look at the conflict the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense carnage created thousands of ethnic Armenian between Azeris and Armenians from the Ar- (Comptroller) office, serving 15 Congresses refugees, who had to leave everything behind menian perspective. from the 98th to the 112th, Mr. Galligan deliv- to be looted or destroyed, including their With these disgusting acts, the Azeri state ered key documents to our Committee from homes, cars and businesses. reminded the whole world why the people of the Department of Defense. We could always These crimes, which were proceeded by a Artsakh must be allowed to determine their count on a story that ended with a chuckle wave of anti–Armenian rallies throughout own future and cannot be allowed to slip into from Bill. Many staff over the years has be- Azerbaijan, were never adequately prosecuted Aliyev’s clutches, lest the carnage of Sumgait come fond of Bill and it won’t be the same not by Azerbaijan authorities. Many who organized a quarter century ago serve as a fore- seeing his face around Capitol Hill anymore. or participated in the bloodshed have gone on shadowing of a greater slaughter. We wish him all the best in his well-de- to serve in high positions on the Azeri govern- f served retirement. I’m sure he will be enjoying ment. For example, in the days leading up to more time with his grandchildren. HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY, MRS. the massacre, a leader of the Communist f BETTY HECHLINSKI Party of Azerbaijan, Hidayat Orujev, warned TRIBUTE TO SARAH COLLINS-RU- Armenians in Sumgait: ‘‘If you do not stop HON. JACKIE WALORSKI DOLPH IN RECOGNITION OF HER campaigning for the unification of Nagorno SACRIFICES AS A SURVIVOR OF OF INDIANA Karabakh with Armenia, if you don’t sober up, THE 1963 BOMBING OF SIX- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 100,000 Azeris from neighboring districts will TEENTH STREET BAPTIST break into your houses, torch your apartments, Thursday, February 28, 2013 CHURCH IN BIRMINGHAM, ALA- rape your women, and kill your children.’’ In a Mrs. WALORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I submit BAMA cruel twist, Orujev went on serve as Azer- these remarks in honor of my aunt, Mrs. Betty baijan’s State Advisor for Ethnic Policy and Hechlinski of South Bend, Indiana who turns later as head of State Committee for Work HON. TERRI A. SEWELL 80 years old today. A lifelong Hoosier resi- OF ALABAMA with Religious Organizations. dent, Aunt Betty was the oldest of three chil- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES The Sumgait massacres led to wider repris- dren and attended school in her hometown of als against Azerbaijan’s ethnic minority, result- Thursday, February 28, 2013 South Bend, graduating from St. Adalbert Ele- ing in the virtual disappearance of Azerbaijan’s mentary School and Washington High School. Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I 450,000–strong Armenian community, and cul- Aunt Betty has always assumed a natural rise today to honor and recognize Sarah Col- minating in the war launched against the peo- leadership role in the Walorski family, particu- lins-Rudolph, a little known American hero ple of Nagorno Karabakh. That war resulted in larly to my father, the late Ray Walorski. The whose life was forever changed on the morn- almost 30,000 dead on both sides and created proud mother of three children and five grand- ing of Sunday, September 15, 1963. On that more than one million refugees in both Arme- children, Aunt Betty continues to stay busy in tragic day, Sarah’s sister Addie was one of nia and Azerbaijan. the community, attending church and blessing four little girls killed in the noted bombing of In the years since the fighting ended, the us all with her wonderful cooking at family Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Bir- people of Artsakh, the region’s ancestral gatherings. As the matriarch of the Walorski mingham, Alabama. While her name isn’t en- name, have struggled to build a functioning family, she continues to remind us of the graved in memorials or printed in history democratic state in the midst of unremitting power of generosity and kindness. I am hon- books, to many in the Birmingham community, hostility and threats from Azerbaijan, as well ored to join our family and friends in wishing Sarah is known as ‘‘the fifth little girl.’’ As we as sniper fire and other incursions across the Aunt Betty a Happy Birthday, with many more remember the 50th anniversary of this tragic Line of Contact between the two sides. Hatred years of continued health and joyful memories. event in our nation’s history, we pay tribute to towards Armenians is both inculcated and the four lives that were lost. But, we must also f celebrated in Azeri youth, as exemplified by remember those that survived this horrible the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM P. tragedy. Sarah Collins-Rudolph is one of those army captain who had confessed to the sav- GALLIGAN’S 43 YEARS OF SERV- survivors. Sarah is the last of eight children age 2004 axe murder of Armenian army lieu- ICE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF DE- born to Alice and Oscar Collins of Bir- tenant Gurgen Margaryan, while the latter FENSE mingham, AL. The day of the bombing, she slept. At the time, the two were participating in was just 12 years old. Sarah and Addie Mae a NATO Partnership for Peace exercise in Bu- HON. C. W. BILL YOUNG were one year apart and formed a unique dapest, Hungary. After the murder, Safarov OF FLORIDA closeness due to their closest in age. was sentenced to life in prison by a Hungarian IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES On the morning of the bombing, Sarah was court and imprisoned in Hungary. in the bathroom of the church’s basement with Last August Safarov was sent home to Thursday, February 28, 2013 the four victims including Addie Mae, Denise Azerbaijan, purportedly to serve out the re- Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wes- mainder of his sentence. Instead of prison, he to pay tribute to William (Bill) P. Galligan, for ley. Sarah was the only girl in the bathroom ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. VerDate Mar 15 2010 07:32 Mar 01, 2013 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 9920 E:\CR\FM\K28FE8.001 E28FEPT1 jbell on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with REMARKS.