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Schiff's genocide bill heads to floor of House
WASHINGTON -- Legislation introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff recognizing the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923 as a genocide was passed by the House International Relations Committee Thursday, but proponents say the battle to get the bill to the floor for a vote has just begun.
Thursday's bill mark-up was the Armenian Genocide Resolution's final hurdle before it can be voted on by the full House of Representatives.
The committee approved the bill with a bipartisan vote of 36 to 11, Schiff said.
"We are just thrilled," Schiff said. "It was the first time we had the support of the chair and a ranking member. We think this will give us a lot of momentum on the floor."
But even with Thursday's victory, lawmakers pushing the resolution are frank about the uphill battle they face. There's been no timetable established for when the resolution might reach the floor for a vote because legislators anticipate resistance from Republicans who do not want to offend ally Turkey.
"It was a hill to climb just to get it heard in the committee," Schiff said. "But if the committee was any indication, the votes are there. We just need to get the leadership to commit to the vote."
Rep. Brad Sherman, who represents a portion of Burbank, was a member of the committee that passed the resolution. Proponents of the resolution will now focus on pushing Rep. Tom Delay (R-Texas) to allow the bill onto the floor for a vote, he said.
"The rumor is that [President Bush] is going to try to say, 'hey, we Republicans don't want this on the floor -- let's stop it,'" Sherman said. "It's peculiar, because our committee is always passing resolutions favoring democracy. But when it comes to our resolutions getting fair and democratic treatment, I'm pessimistic."
National Security Council spokesman Fred Jones could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The resolution is important for the United States in quest for democracy throughout the world, Sherman said.
"It's important because genocide denial sets us up for the next genocide," Sherman said. "It was Adolf Hitler who said, before he killed 6 million of my ethnic group and tens of millions of others, 'who remembers the Armenians?'
"Genocide denial is the last act of genocide itself. First you exterminate the people, then you exterminate the people's memory, then you exterminate the memory of the extermination."
In spite of the uphill battle before them, local proponents of the bill will continue with a phone, e-mail and fax campaigns to members of Congress, just as they have the past few years, said Armen Carapetian, director of the Armenian National Committee's Western Region.
"This is sort of a David and Goliath-type battle and the little guy won," Carapetian said. "Hopefully, that will be carried through to the full floor vote."
Carapetian is optimistic that Congress will recognize that acknowledging the Armenian Genocide is an important issue.
"We know that the only way to prevent genocide from continuing to happen around the world is to hold those who commit them responsible," Carapetian said. "Turkey must be held accountable.
This resolution serves as a first step in pursuing justice and pressuring Turkey to come to grips with its past."
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