Us Congress To Discuss Armenian Genocide Resolution

[Siamanto]

US CONGRESS TO DISCUSS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

Pan Armenian News
13.06.2005 03:12

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The US Congress will discuss the Armenian Genocide
Resolution introduced by Congressmen George Radanovich and Adam Schiff.
Within the next several weeks the House Committee on International
Relations will submit the new resolution on the Armenian Genocide",
Mr. Schiff said. To note, last time the Committee voted on the
issue five years ago. Earlier member of the Congressional Caucus
on Armenian Issues Adam Schiff submitted two draft resolutions. One
of them confirmed the Armenian Genocide, the other condemned Turkey
for imposing blockade upon Armenia. However the Congress refrained
from discussing the projects. Mr. Schiff agreed to recall them on
the condition that the House Committee on International Relations
will consider his resolution. According to the Congressmen, this
agreement does not guarantee the support of the committee chairman
or its members. However during the recent 5 years the opportunity
did not occur. "The resolution records of the Armenian Genocide and
1.5 million people killed at the beginning of the 20-th century. It
also says that the US Congress acknowledges the Armenian Genocide",
the Congressmen added, RFE/RL reports.

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg115494.html

[TomServo]

Mmmmmhmmm.

[Siamanto]

Mmmmmhmmm.

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.armenianassembly.org
�
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 14, 2005
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
Email: [email protected]

Congressmen Radanovich and Schiff, Joined by Armenia Caucus Co-Chairs Knollenberg and Pallone, Introduce Armenian Genocide Resolution

Washington, DC - Congressmen George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today introduced an Armenian Genocide resolution that would reaffirm the U.S. record on this crime against humanity. Fifty additional Members of Congress have signed on as original co-sponsors to this bipartisan effort to have the United States reaffirm the Armenian Genocide.

The legislation calls upon the President to "ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding" of the "Armenian Genocide" and to "accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide" in the President's annual message.

"I am proud to once again introduce legislation, that will recall for the benefit of future generations, the first genocide of the 20th century and the extraordinary American response to the attempted destruction of the Armenian people," said Radanovich, the bill's lead sponsor. "In this action by the Ottoman Empire and the ultimately ineffective reaction of third parties lie the lessons that could have prevented the genocides that have followed against Jews, Cambodians, Rwandans and so many other peoples."

Passage of this legislation would reaffirm the U.S. historical record which includes thousands of pages documenting the premeditated extermination of the Armenian people. President George W. Bush himself has carefully set forth the textbook definition of the crime of genocide as it applies to the Armenians in his successive April 24 statements. Nevertheless, the Turkish government is expected to vigorously oppose the resolution by calling upon its hired lobbyists, the Administration and Members of Congress to deny that genocide occurred and to assert irreparable damage to the U.S.-Turkey relationship should Congress adopt the bill.

"On the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide it is high time to recognize the deliberate murder of a million and a half Armenians during the first genocide of the 20th century. Passing a resolution commemorating the genocide will be an important first step in the long process of healing that needs to take place," said Schiff.

This legislation is similar to the version that nearly passed the House of Representatives in 2000. The previous resolution, which had the support of 143 co-sponsors, and was scheduled for a vote on the House floor was withdrawn at the last minute due to an intervention by President Clinton to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) which prevented a final, affirmative vote.

"Clearly there have been and continue to be sufficient votes in the House to pass this resolution," said Knollenberg. "I will work with the original co-sponsors, with members of the Armenia Caucus and with the leadership of both parties to secure a concluding vote on this legislative measure. This unique chapter of American and Armenian history must not be forgotten."

There is a growing trend internationally to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. Just since 2000, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden have passed legislation affirming the massacres and expulsion of the Armenian people as genocide.

Additionally, the European Parliament resolved that Turkey must come to terms with its genocidal legacy as part of its European Union accession process. Turkey has responded with bombast internationally and repression at home.

"The government of Turkey does its country and people great damage by threatening nations that acknowledge the truth," said Pallone. The European Union will not embrace a nation that criminalizes free speech and prosecutes its citizens for challenging official Turkey's unconscionable denial of the Armenian Genocide. At a minimum, enacting this resolution will effectively end the ongoing campaign of denial."

As was the case in 2000 when a similar resolution in the House of Representatives was literally minutes from final passage, pan Armenian-American support will be crucial to prevailing during this Congress.

"The Assembly commends the leadership of Congressmen Radanovich and Schiff, and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Knollenberg and Pallone, for spearheading this bi-partisan campaign to once and for all time set the U.S. record straight on the fact of the Armenian Genocide and to uphold America's credibility and leadership around the world to end the scourge of genocide," said Assembly Board of Directors Chairman Hirair Hovnanian. "We anticipate the opposition to be vigorous, and know that the Armenian-American community will rise in a united effort during this the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide."

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership organization.

###
NR#2005-065

Editor's Note: Attached is the complete list of original sponsors to the
Armenian Genocide resolution introduced today in the House of
Representatives.

1. George Radanovich (R-CA)
2. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
3. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI)
4. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ)
5. Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
6. Charles Bass (R-NH)
7. Howard Berman (D-CA)
8. Michael Bilirakis (R-FL)
9. Jeb Bradley (R-NH)
10. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
11. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
12. Jim Costa (D-CA)
13. Jerry Costello (D-IL)
14. Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
15. David Dreier (R-CA)
16. Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
17. Bob Filner (D-CA)
18. Mark Foley (R-FL)
19. Barney Frank (D-MA)
20. Scott Garrett (R-NJ)
21. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
22. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
23. Steve Israel (D-NY)
24. Darrell Issa (R-CA)
25. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
26. Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL)
27. James Langevin (D-RI)
28. Sander Levin (D-MI)
29. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
30. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI)
31. Jim McDermott (D-WA)
32. James McGovern (D-MA)
33. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA)
34. Michael McNulty (D-NY)
35. Marty Meehan (D-MA)
36. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
37. Candice Miller (R-MI)
38. Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
39. Devin Nunes (R-CA)
40. Mike Rogers (R-MI)
41. Steve Rothman (D-NJ)
42. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
43. Edward Royce (R-CA)
44. Jim Saxton (R-NJ)
45. Joe Schwarz (R-MI)
46. E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R-FL)
47. Brad Sherman (D-CA)
48. John Shimkus (R-IL)
49. Christopher Smith (R-NJ)
50. Mark Souder (R-IN)
51. John Sweeney (R-NY)
52. Peter Visclosky (D-IN)
53. Diane Watson (D-CA)
54. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)

--Boundary_(ID_UpdlZlxSr8HUs5R9b17hgg)--

[Siamanto]

[PART I]


Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.anca.org

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 14, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

REPS. RADANOVICH, SCHIFF, KNOLLENBERG, AND PALLONE
INTRODUCE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LEGISLATION

-- Resolution Reaffirms U.S. Record on the Armenian Genocide

WASHINGTON, DC - A bipartisan group of over 50 U.S. Representatives
joined today with lead sponsors George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam
Schiff (D-CA), and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Frank
Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) in introducing the
Armenian Genocide Resolution in the House of Representatives,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

"We join with Armenian Americans across the United States in
welcoming the introduction today of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution by Congressmen Radanovich, Schiff, Knollenberg, and
Pallone," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We look
forward to working with our Congressional friends, community
partners, and the growing genocide-prevention coalition to build
bipartisan support for this measure and to help secure its timely
adoption by the House of Representatives."

The resolution enjoys the support of the ANCA, Armenian Assembly,
and the entire Armenian American community. It will be referred
to the House International Relations Committee for consideration.

The Radanovich-Schiff-Knollenberg-Pallone Resolution calls upon the
President "to ensure that the foreign policy of the Untied States
reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning
issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide
documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian
Genocide." The resolution includes thirty detailed findings from
past U.S. hearings, resolutions and Presidential statements on the
Armenian Genocide from 1916 through the present, as well as
references to statements by international bodies and organizations.

Upon introduction of the measure, Rep. Radanovich noted that "By
properly acknowledging the Armenian Genocide, we recognize this
atrocity and renew our commitment to prevent other occurrences of
man's inhumanity to man. I am proud to have been a leader in this
community for the past decade as one voice for a people who were
silenced for too long."

Members of Congress joining Representatives Radanovich, Schiff,
Knollenberg and Pallone as original cosponsors of the resolution
are: Rob Andrews (D-NJ), Charles Bass (R-NH), Howard Berman (D-CA),
Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Jeb Bradley (R-NH), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA),
John Conyers (D-MI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Jerry Costello (D-IL),
Joseph Crowley (D-NY), David Dreier (R-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA),
Bob Filner (D-CA) , Mark Foley (R-FL), Barney Frank (D-MA), Scott
Garrett (R-NJ), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) , Maurice Hinchey (D-NY),
Steve Israel (D-NY), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI),
Mark Kirk (R-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), Sander Levin (D-MI),
Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Jim McDermott
(D-WA), James McGovern (D-MA), Buck McKeon (R-CA), Michael
McNulty (D-NY), Marty Meehan (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ),
Candice Miller (R-MI), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Devin Nunes (R-CA),
Mike Rogers (R-MI), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA),
Ed Royce (R-CA), Jim Saxton (R-NJ), Joe Schwarz (R-MI), E. Clay Shaw
(R-FL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), John Shimkus (R-IL), Chris Smith (R-NJ),
Mark Souder (R-IN), John Sweeney (R-NY), Peter Visclosky (D-IN),
Diane Watson (D-CA), and Anthony Weiner (D-NY).

The text of the resolution is similar to one introduced in 1999,
during the 106th Congress, again led by Rep. Radanovich, spearheaded
along with then House Democratic Whip David Bonior (D-MI) and the
Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs. That bill secured the
support of over 140 cosponsors and, following extensive hearings,
was overwhelmingly adopted by the House International Relations
Committee by a vote of 24 to 11, and scheduled for a floor vote.
Despite the clear bipartisan support for the measure, it was
withdrawn from the House calendar in October of 2000 by the Speaker
of the House, under heavy pressure from President Clinton.

The text of the resolution follows.

#####

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg115655.html

[Siamanto]

[PART II]


================================================== =============
TEXT OF RADANOVICH-SCHIFF-KNOLLENBERG-PALLONE
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
================================================== =============

Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide

RESOLUTION

Calling upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the
United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity
concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and
genocide documented in the United States record relating to the
Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes.

Resolved,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This resolution may be cited as the "Affirmation of the United
States Record on the Armenian Genocide."

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The House of Representatives finds the following:

1) The Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the
Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of
nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and
children were killed, 500,000 survivors were expelled from their
homes, and which succeeded in the elimination of the over 2,500-
year presence of Armenians in their historic homeland.

2) On May 24, 1915, the Allied Powers, England, France, and Russia,
jointly issued a statement explicitly charging for the first time
ever another government of committing "a crime against humanity."

3) This joint statement stated "[i]n view of these new crimes of
Turkey against humanity and civilization, the Allied Governments
announce publicly to the Sublime Porte that they will hold
personally responsible for these crimes all members of the Ottoman
Government, as well as those of their agents who are implicated in
such massacres."

4) The post-World War I Turkish Government indicted the top leaders
involved in the "organization and execution" of the Armenian
Genocide and in the "massacre and destruction of the Armenians."

5) In a series of courts-martial, officials of the Young Turk
Regime were tried and convicted, as charged, for organizing and
executing massacres against the Armenian people.

6) The chief organizers of the Armenian Genocide, Minister of War
Enver, Minister of the Interior Talaat, and Minister of the Navy
Jemal were all condemned to death for their crimes, however, the
verdicts of the courts were not enforced.

7) The Armenian Genocide and these domestic judicial failures are
documented with overwhelming evidence in the national archives of
Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, the United States,
the Vatican and many other countries, and this vast body of
evidence attests to the same facts, the same events, and the same
consequences.

8) The United States National Archives and Record Administration
holds extensive and thorough documentation on the Armenian
Genocide, especially in its holdings under Record Group 59 of the
United States Department of State, files 867.00 and 867.40, which
are open and widely available to the public and interested
institutions.

9) The Honorable Henry Morgenthau, United States Ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916, organized and led protests by
officials of many countries, among them the allies of the Ottoman
Empire, against the Armenian Genocide.

10) Ambassador Morgenthau explicitly described to the United States
Department of State the policy of the Government of the Ottoman
Empire as "a campaign of race extermination," and was instructed on
July 16, 1915, by United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing
that the "Department approves your procedure . . . to stop Armenian
persecution."

11) Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 of February 9, 1916, resolved
that "the President of the United States be respectfully asked to
designate a day on which the citizens of this country may give
expression to their sympathy by contributing funds now being raised
for the relief of the Armenians", who at the time were enduring
"starvation, disease, and untold suffering."

12) President Woodrow Wilson concurred and also encouraged the
formation of the organization known as Near East Relief, chartered
by an Act of Congress, which contributed some $116,000,000 from
1915 to 1930 to aid Armenian Genocide survivors, including 132,000
orphans who became foster children of the American people.

13) Senate Resolution 359, dated May 11, 1920, stated in part, "the
testimony adduced at the hearings conducted by the sub-committee of
the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations have clearly established
the truth of the reported massacres and other atrocities from which
the Armenian people have suffered."

14) The resolution followed the April 13, 1920, report to the
Senate of the American Military Mission to Armenia led by General
James Harbord, that stated "[m]utilation, violation, torture, and
death have left their haunting memories in a hundred beautiful
Armenian valleys, and the traveler in that region is seldom free
from the evidence of this most colossal crime of all the ages."

15) As displayed in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
Adolf Hitler, on ordering his military commanders to attack Poland
without provocation in 1939, dismissed objections by saying "[w]ho,
after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" and
thus set the stage for the Holocaust.

16) Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term "genocide" in 1944, and who
was the earliest proponent of the United Nations Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, invoked the Armenian case as
a definitive example of genocide in the 20th century.

17) The first resolution on genocide adopted by the United Nations
at Lemkin's urging, the December 11, 1946, United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 96(1) and the United Nations Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of Genocide itself recognized the
Armenian Genocide as the type of crime the United Nations intended
to prevent and punish by codifying existing standards.

18) In 1948 the United Nations War Crimes Commission invoked the
Armenian Genocide "precisely . . . one of the types of acts which
the modern term 'crimes against humanity' is intended to cover" as
a precedent for the Nuremberg tribunals.

19) The Commission stated that "[t]he provisions of Article 230 of
the Peace Treaty of Sevres were obviously intended to cover, in
conformity with the Allied note of 1915 . . ., offenses which had
been committed on Turkish territory against persons of Turkish
citizenship, though of Armenian or Greek race. This article
constitutes therefore a precedent for Article 6c and 5c of the
Nuremberg and Tokyo Charters, and offers an example of one of the
categories of 'crimes against humanity' as understood by these
enactments."

20) House Joint Resolution 148, adopted on April 8, 1975, resolved:
"[t]hat April 24, 1975 is hereby designated as 'National Day of
Remembrance of Man's Inhumanity to Man', and the President of the
United States is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation
calling upon the people of the United States to observe such day as
a day of remembrance for all the victims of genocide, especially
those of Armenian ancestry. . . ."

21) President Ronald Reagan in proclamation number 4838, dated
April 22, 1981, stated in part "like the genocide of the Armenians
before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians, which followed it--
and like too many other persecutions of too many other people--the
lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten."

22) House Joint Resolution 247, adopted on September 10, 1984,
resolved: "[t]hat April 24, 1985, is hereby designated as 'National
Day of Remembrance of Man's Inhumanity to Man', and the President
of the United States is authorized and requested to issue a
proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to
observe such day as a day of remembrance for all the victims of
genocide, especially the one and one-half million people of
Armenian ancestry . . . ."

23) In August 1985, after extensive study and deliberation, the
United Nations SubCommission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities voted 14 to 1 to accept a report entitled
"Study of the Question of the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide," which stated "[t]he Nazi aberration has
unfortunately not been the only case of genocide in the twentieth
century. Among other examples which can be cited as qualifying are
. . the Ottoman massacre of Armenians in 1915-1916.".

24) This report also explained that "[a]t least 1 million, and
possibly well over half of the Armenian population, are reliably
estimated to have been killed or death marched by independent
authorities and eye-witnesses. This is corroborated by reports in
United States, German and British archives and of contemporary
diplomats in the Ottoman Empire, including those of its ally
Germany."

25) The United States Holocaust Memorial Council, an independent
Federal agency, unanimously resolved on April 30, 1981, that the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum would include the Armenian
Genocide in the Museum and has since done so.

26) Reviewing an aberrant 1982 expression (later retracted) by the
United States Department of State asserting that the facts of the
Armenian Genocide may be ambiguous, the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1993, after a review of
documents pertaining to the policy record of the United States,
noted that the assertion on ambiguity in the United States record
about the Armenian Genocide "contradicted longstanding United
States policy and was eventually retracted."

27) On June 5, 1996, the House adopted an amendment to the Fiscal
Year 1997 Foreign Operations Appropriation Act to reduce aid to
Turkey by $3 million (an estimate of its payment of lobbying fees
in the U.S.) until the Turkish government acknowledged the Armenian
Genocide and took steps to honor the memory of its victims.

28) President William Jefferson Clinton, on April 24, 1998, stated
in part "This year, as in the past, we join with Armenian-Americans
throughout the nation in commemorating one of the saddest chapters
in the history of this century, the deportations and massacres of a
million and a half Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the years
1915-1923."

29) President George W. Bush, on April 24, 2004 stated in part "On
this day, we pause in remembrance of one of the most horrible
tragedies of the 20th century, the annihilation of as many as 1.5
million Armenians through forced exile and murder at the end of the
Ottoman Empire."

30) Despite the international recognition and affirmation of the
Armenian Genocide, the failure of the domestic and international
authorities to punish those responsible for the Armenian Genocide
is a reason why similar genocides have recurred and may recur in
the future, and that a just resolution will help prevent future
genocides.


SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

The House of Representatives -

1) Calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of
the United States reflects appropriate understanding and
sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic
cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record
relating to the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the
failure to realize a just resolution;

2) Calls upon the President in the President's annual message
commemorating the Armenian Genocide issued on or about April 24 to
accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation
of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide and to recall the proud history
of United States intervention in opposition to the Armenian
Genocide.

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg115655.html

[winoman]

Bravo!

Wow - I am actually very impressed. Most of these type of resolutions do not really get the the gist of the matter - but this one certainly does. Let us hope it passes. We should each write our Congressional representatives and urge its adoption in the strongest terms. I think this is the best and most clearly stated resolution on this matter that I have ever seen.

[Otto]

Whats the value of an accusation if it is made by a murderer to another one? And whats the value of a man who begged for that accusation? And whats the value of the judgement of unjust

[winoman]

Whats the value of an accusation if it is made by a murderer to another one? And whats the value of a man who begged for that accusation? And whats the value of the judgement of unjust

And what is the honor in denial?

[Otto]

There is no honour in denial. Now your turn to answer mr Winoman.

[winoman]

I dispute your characterization of my nation - the USA - as a murderer and unjust nation. By and large the US is an agent for good in the world - regardless of certain less then pleasing actions and policies. As a Democracy - one can never tell what kind of leadership we will get form year to year and there is also of course certain zeal within elements of our Bureaucracy that at times in unsavory. This is true with most any nation - and always with those nations in power positions that want to keep it that way as well as exercise somewhat the fruits of such a position - it is human nature and the nature of governments. But overall the US is a just and honorable nation that is a force for good in this world and I think most honest folks would agree that there might be worse options for the #1 power in our time. So I reject your contention that there is no value in this recognition. I also reject your characterization of Armenians as begging - we are only doing what we need to do - what we are obligated to do - at a very minimum - to ensure that our forefathers horrible death and suffering is not forgotten. Would you likewise demean Jews and others who have similarly suffered for wishing recognition of their tragedy? Should we just be silent?