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Assembly Reiterates Support For Community Genocide Bill

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  • Assembly Reiterates Support For Community Genocide Bill

    Armenian Assembly of America
    1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
    Washington, DC 20036

    PRESS RELEASE
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    July 5, 2005
    CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
    E-mail: [email protected]

    ASSEMBLY REITERATES SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY GENOCIDE BILL
    H. RES. 316 BOASTS OVER 75 CO-SPONSORS

    Washington, DC - The Assembly today commended the Armenian-American
    community for rallying congressional support for H. Res. 316, a
    bipartisan resolution that would reaffirm the U.S. record on the
    Armenian Genocide. To date, more than 75 Members of the House have
    signed on as cosponsors to the bill, which was introduced by Congressmen
    George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Armenian Caucus
    Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ).

    The four sponsors introduced the resolution in the House of
    Representatives on June 14 with the strong backing of the pan-Armenian
    community.

    H. Res. 316 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.

    Prior to the congressional July Fourth recess, Congressman Schiff
    introduced an alternative measure without the support of the Armenian
    Caucus that would also reaffirm the U.S. record on the Armenian
    Genocide.

    "In previous years, Members of the Armenian Caucus and a coalition of
    pan-Armenian organizations pledged to a unified approach for a
    bipartisan resolution on the Armenian Genocide," said Assembly Board of
    Directors Chairman Anthony Barsamian. "It is essential that all
    legislative initiatives have the backing of Members of both political
    parties, which in 2000, led to the near passage of an Armenian Genocide
    resolution."

    "During this 90th commemorative year of the Armenian Genocide, the
    Assembly is fully committed to working collaboratively with the offices
    of the four principal sponsors to garner support and secure the passage
    of H. Res. 316 in the House of Representatives."

    Barsamian also added that the Assembly has been in the forefront of
    every serious effort to pass a congressional Genocide resolution.

    Last year, the Washington Post's Glenn Maffei wrote an article on the
    daunting task of passing any legislative measure, despite a bill's heavy
    support. Maffei wrote, "Since January 2003, 10,472 bills and
    resolutions were introduced in the House and Senate. By November 1,
    only 122 Senate bills and 292 House bills, or 4 percent, became law."

    "When you are one of 435 members of the House, it is important for the
    folks back home to see the spirited push of your annual legislative
    agenda, which means the introduction, to great fanfare, of all sorts of
    bills and resolutions," Maffei wrote. "About 96 percent of them end up
    in the congressional recycling bin."

    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#2005-075

    Attached is the list of 80 cosponsors to the Armenian Genocide
    resolution, H.
    Res. 316, which was introduced in the House of Representatives on June
    14.

    Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA)
    Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
    Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI)
    Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
    Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY)
    Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ)
    Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
    Rep. Charles Bass (R-NH)
    Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA)
    Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-FL)
    Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY)
    Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-NH)
    Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
    Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA)
    Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
    Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO)
    Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)
    Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA)
    Rep. Jerry Costello (D-IL)
    Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
    Rep. John Dingell (D-MI)
    Rep. Michael Doyle (D-PA)
    Rep. David Dreier (R-CA)
    Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
    Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA)
    Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL)
    Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
    Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ)
    Rep. Mark Green (R-WI)
    Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
    Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
    Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ)
    Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY)
    Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)
    Rep. Jesse Jackson (D-IL)
    Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY)
    Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
    Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)
    Rep. James Langevin (D-RI)
    Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI)
    Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL)
    Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
    Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA)
    Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
    Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI)
    Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN)
    Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA)
    Rep. James McGovern (D-MA)
    Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA)
    Rep. Michael McNulty (D-NY)
    Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA)
    Rep. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
    Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI)
    Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
    Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
    Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA)
    Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ)
    Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)
    Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI)
    Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ)
    Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
    Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA)
    Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL)
    Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
    Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ)
    Rep. Joe Schwarz (R-MI)
    Rep. E. Clay Shaw (R-FL)
    Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA)
    Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL)
    Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)
    Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN)
    Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA)
    Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY)
    Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
    Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN)
    Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA)
    Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
    Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
    Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA)
    Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

  • #2
    AAA: Assembly Welcomes Senate Introduction of Armenian Genocide Res.

    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
    November 18, 2005
    CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
    Email: [email protected]


    ASSEMBLY WELCOMES SENATE INTRODUCTION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

    Washington, DC - Senator John Ensign (R-NV) and Senate Minority Whip
    Richard Durbin (D-IL), both staunch supporters of Armenian issues, today
    introduced a resolution in the U.S. Senate that would reaffirm the U.S.
    historical record on the Armenian Genocide.

    "During this 90th commemorative year of the Armenian Genocide, I am
    proud to once again introduce legislation in the U.S. Senate," said
    Ensign. "It is time for the United States, as a world leader, to once
    and for all reaffirm the incontestable facts of history witnessed and
    reported by U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau and
    acknowledged by other leading Americans including President Ronald
    Reagan."

    Durbin, the second most powerful democrat in the Senate, added, "The
    Armenian Genocide was the Twentieth Century's first genocide, a vicious,
    organized crime against humanity that included murder, deportation,
    torture, and slave labor. U.S. clarity on this historical fact is of
    utmost importance and long past due."

    "We commend the leadership of Senators Ensign and Durbin for this Senate
    initiative to reaffirm the incontestable fact of the Armenian Genocide,"
    said Assembly Board of Trustees Chairman Hirair Hovnanian. "The U.S.
    National Archives contain thousands of pages documenting the Armenian
    Genocide as this crime against humanity was being committed. As such,
    Congress has an important opportunity in this 90th commemorative year to
    squarely combat Turkey's ongoing campaign of denial by recognizing the
    cataclysmic events of 1915."

    The Senate bill, modeled after the House Armenian Genocide resolution,
    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.

    The House version (H. Res. 316) was introduced on June 14 by Congressmen
    George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Armenian Caucus
    Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ). The
    resolution, which has more than 140 cosponsors to date, passed the House
    International Relations Committee by a resounding vote on September 15.

    Senators Ensign and Durbin are longtime supporters of U.S. reaffirmation
    initiatives. Ensign, along with Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ), sponsored a
    previous Armenian Genocide resolution to commemorate the 15th
    anniversary of the U.S. implementation of the Genocide Convention last
    Congress. The legislation, which was cosponsored by Durbin,
    specifically cited the importance of learning the lessons of the
    Holocaust as well as the Armenian Genocide, and the Cambodian and
    Rwandan genocides in an effort to prevent the repetition of similar
    atrocities in the future.

    Earlier this year, Ensign and Durbin also urged President Bush to
    properly characterize the genocide in his annual statement of
    remembrance.

    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#2005-074
    "All truth passes through three stages:
    First, it is ridiculed;
    Second, it is violently opposed; and
    Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

    Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

    Comment


    • #3
      Congressional Record: November 18, 2005 (Senate)]
      [Page S13394-S13395]
      >>From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
      [DOCID:cr18no05-290]

      SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

      SENATE RESOLUTION 320--CALLING ON 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

      Mr. ENSIGN (for himself and Mr. Durbin) submitted the following
      resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

      S. Res 320

      Whereas 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 more than 2,500-year presence of Armenians in
      their historic homeland;
      Whereas, on May 24, 1915, the Allied Powers issued the
      joint statement of England, France, and Russia that
      explicitly charged, for the first time ever, another
      government of committing ``a crime against humanity'';
      Whereas that joint statement stated ``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'';
      Whereas 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'';
      Whereas in a series of courts-martial, officials of the
      Young Turk Regime were tried and convicted on charges of
      organizing and executing massacres against the Armenian
      people;
      Whereas the officials who were the chief organizers of the
      Armenian Genocide, Minister of War Enver, Minister of the
      Interior Talaat, and Minister of the Navy Jemal, were tried
      by military tribunals, found guilty, and condemned to death
      for their crimes, however, the punishments imposed by the
      tribunals were not enforced;
      Whereas the Armenian Genocide and the failure to carry out
      the death sentence against Enver, Talaat, and Jemal are
      documented with overwhelming evidence in the national
      archives of Austria, France, Germany, Russia, the United
      Kingdom, 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;
      Whereas the National Archives and Records Administration of
      the United States holds extensive and thorough documentation
      on the Armenian Genocide, especially in its holdings for the
      Department of State under Record Group 59, files 867.00 and
      867.40, which are open and widely available to the public and
      interested institutions;
      Whereas 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;
      Whereas Ambassador Morgenthau explicitly described to the
      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 Secretary of State Robert
      Lansing that the ``Department approves your procedure . . .
      to stop Armenian persecution'';
      Whereas Senate Concurrent Resolution 12, 64th Congress,
      agreed to July 18, 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 that time, were enduring
      ``starvation, disease, and untold suffering'';
      Whereas President Woodrow Wilson agreed with such
      Concurrent Resolution and encouraged the formation of the
      organization known as Near East Relief, which was
      incorporated by the Act of August 6, 1919, 66th Congress (41
      Stat. 273, chapter 32);
      Whereas, from 1915 through 1930, Near East Relief
      contributed approximately $116,000,000 to aid survivors of
      the Armenian Genocide, including aid to approximately 132,000
      Armenian orphans;
      Whereas Senate Resolution 359, 66th Congress, agreed to May
      11, 1920, stated in part, ``the testimony adduced at the
      hearings conducted by the subcommittee 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'';
      Whereas such Senate Resolution followed the report to the
      Senate of the American Military Mission to Armenia, which was
      led by General James Harbord, dated April 13, 1920, 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'';
      Whereas, 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;
      Whereas Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term ``genocide'' in
      1944, and who was the earliest proponent of the Convention on
      the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, invoked the
      Armenian case as a definitive example of genocide in the 20th
      century;
      Whereas the first resolution on genocide adopted by the
      United Nations, United Nations General Assembly Resolution
      96(1), dated December 11, 1946, (which was adopted at the
      urging of Raphael Lemkin), and the Convention on the
      Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, done at Paris December
      9, 1948, recognized the Armenian Genocide as the type of
      crime the United Nations intended to prevent and punish by
      codifying existing standards;
      Whereas, in 1948, the United Nations War Crimes Commission
      invoked the Armenian Genocide as ``precisely . . . one of the
      types of acts which the modern term `crimes against humanity'
      is intended to cover'' and as a precedent for the Nuremberg
      tribunals;
      Whereas such 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'';
      Whereas House Joint Resolution 148, 94th Congress, adopted
      by the House of Representatives on April 8, 1975, resolved
      that ``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'';
      Whereas Proclamation 4838 of April 22, 1981 (95 Stat. 1813)
      issued by President Ronald Reagan, stated, in part, that
      ``[l]ike 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'';
      Whereas House Joint Resolution 247, 98th Congress, adopted
      by the House of Representatives on September 10, 1984,
      resolved that ``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'';
      Whereas, in August 1985, after extensive study and
      deliberation, the United Nations Sub-Commission 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 20th century. Among other
      examples which can be cited as qualifying are . . . the
      Ottoman massacre of Armenians in 1915-1916'';
      Whereas such report also explained that ``[a]t least
      1,000,000, 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
      and 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'';
      Whereas the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, an
      independent Federal agency that serves as the board of
      trustees of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
      pursuant to section 2302 of title 36, United States Code,
      unanimously resolved on April 30, 1981, that the Museum would
      exhibit information regarding the Armenian Genocide and the
      Museum has since done so;
      Whereas, reviewing an aberrant 1982 expression by the
      Department of State (which was later retracted) that asserted
      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'';
      Whereas, on June 5, 1996, the House of Representatives
      adopted an amendment to H.R. 3540, 104th Congress (the
      Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs
      Appropriations Act,
      1997), to reduce aid to Turkey by $3,000,000 (an estimate of
      its payment of lobbying fees in the United States) until the
      Turkish Government acknowledged the Armenian Genocide and
      took steps to honor the memory of its victims;
      Whereas President William Jefferson Clinton, on April 24,
      1998, stated, ``[t]his 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'';
      Whereas President George W. Bush, on April 24, 2004,
      stated, ``[o]n this day, we pause in remembrance of one of
      the most horrible tragedies of the 20th century, the
      annihilation of as many as 1,500,000 Armenians through forced
      exile and murder at the end of the Ottoman Empire''; and
      Whereas, 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: Now,
      therefore, be it
      Resolved, That the Senate--
      (1) calls on 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; and
      (2) calls on 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.
      Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to recall and to honor the
      1.5 million Armenians killed by the Ottoman government between 1915 and
      1923. Genocides claimed the lives of some 60 million people in the
      century just past, 16 million after the end of the Second World War,
      when we told ourselves, ``Never again.'' The Armenian Genocide was the
      20th century's first genocide, a vicious, organized crime against
      humanity that included murder, deportation, torture, and slave labor.
      Some would ignore the Armenian victims and forget how they died. We
      need to fight against such forgetfulness.
      An Armenian named Vahram Dadrian was a survivor of the genocide and
      wrote about his experiences in a moving memoir. But by the 1940s, he
      had begun to lose hope. ``Everything has been forgotten,'' he wrote,
      ``our . . . dead could never have imagined, even for a fraction of a
      moment, that they would have been forgotten so soon.''
      We must restore that lost hope. We must not forget. To do so would
      dishonor the memories of the dead and send a message to the world that
      we might tolerate genocide.
      We will not tolerate the intolerable. We will remember, and in doing
      so, cultivate the knowledge--and the wisdom--necessary to act to
      prevent a repetition of these terrible crimes. Because the problem
      isn't simply a matter of knowing, but about knowing when and how to
      act.
      Senator Ensign and I have submitted a resolution that acknowledges
      the suffering of those destroyed by the Armenian genocide.
      It calls on the President to remember the hard lessons of the
      Armenian genocide in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy and to assure
      that our knowledge of this terrible crime informs our human rights
      policies.
      As I said, the Armenian genocide was the first genocide of the 20th
      century. It was also the first time that the American public found
      itself confronting such a cruel, man-made catastrophe.
      America closely followed the crisis. In 1915, the New York Times
      alone published 145 articles on the Armenian massacres, roughly one
      every 2\1/2\ days.
      Dedicated and courageous American diplomats tried to end the carnage.
      Our ambassador to Constantinople, Henry Morgenthau, played an important
      role in bringing the massacres to the attention of the outside world.
      Americans, such as Mark Twain, Henry Adams, and Clara Barton, spoke
      out against the massacres and a broad-based American humanitarian
      movement sought to provide relief to the desperate Armenians and pushed
      the U.S. Government to protect the victims from further violence. It
      was the birth of the American international human rights movement.
      The Near East Relief Organization, founded in 1919 to assist Armenian
      refugees, provided more than $116 million for the cause during its 10-
      year lifetime--the equivalent of more than $1 billion in today's money.
      We need to recapture that energy and determination because the best
      way to honor those who died is to recognize their suffering and
      dedicate ourselves to preventing such a destruction of entire
      communities in the future.
      Recognizing the Armenian genocide takes on added importance in the
      face of the genocide occurring right now in the Darfur region of Sudan.
      As we pause to reflect upon this grievous example of man's inhumanity
      to man, let us honor the victims of the Armenian genocide and all
      crimes against humanity not only by acknowledging their suffering, but
      also by acting to halt similar atrocities that are occurring now before
      our very eyes.

      Comment


      • #4
        Question!!!

        Can anyone say for sure what has just happened? I know the bill that the foreign relations committee passed in September was waiting on Dennis Hasterts agenda table for all this time. He didn't allow it to reach congress in 2000 (the last time it passed foreign relations) and could have "allegedly" taken bribes from Turkish Americans to strike it down.

        But now, does the previous article mean that Hastert allowed it through to be on the Congressional agenda? Can anyone say for sure or shed any light?

        Comment


        • #5
          So now we have the resolutions in borh houses .thats good!
          when they will vote on it ?
          It may happen separetly or concurrently.
          Senate may vote on it before the house too.
          "All truth passes through three stages:
          First, it is ridiculed;
          Second, it is violently opposed; and
          Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

          Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

          Comment


          • #6
            SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - November 18, 2005)

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Gavur
              So now we have the resolutions in borh houses .thats good!
              when they will vote on it ?
              It may happen separetly or concurrently.
              Senate may vote on it before the house too.
              I think the House would have to vote on it first, and then if passed the Senate would vote... That is the standard process, and because the Senate has it now is the root of my confusion... I am quite sure they cannot vote concurrently though.

              Comment


              • #8
                Armenian Genocide Resolution Introduced In Us Senate

                Noyan Tapan
                Armenians Today
                Nov 21 2005

                WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 21, NOYAN TAPAN - ARMENIANS TODAY. Senator
                John Ensign (R-NV) and Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL)
                introduced on November 18 a resolution in the U.S. Senate that would
                reaffirm the U.S. historical record on the Armenian Genocide, the
                Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) reported.

                The Senate bill, modeled after the House Armenian Genocide resolution,
                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.

                The House version (H. Res. 316) was introduced on June 14 by
                Congressmen George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and
                Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone,
                Jr. (D-NJ). The resolution, which has more than 140 cosponsors to date,
                passed the House International Relations Committee by a resounding
                vote on September 15.

                "During this 90th commemorative year of the Armenian Genocide, I am
                proud to once again introduce legislation in the U.S. Senate," said
                Ensign. "It is time for the United States, as a world leader, to once
                and for all reaffirm the incontestable facts of history witnessed and
                reported by U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau
                and acknowledged by other leading Americans including President
                Ronald Reagan."

                Durbin, the second most powerful democrat in the Senate, added,
                "The Armenian Genocide was the Twentieth Century's first genocide,
                a vicious, organized crime against humanity that included murder,
                deportation, torture, and slave labor. U.S. clarity on this historical
                fact is of utmost importance and long past due."

                Senators Ensign and Durbin are longtime supporters of
                U.S. reaffirmation initiatives. Ensign, along with Senator Jon
                Corzine (D-NJ), sponsored a previous Armenian Genocide resolution
                to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the U.S. implementation of
                the Genocide Convention last Congress. The legislation, which was
                cosponsored by Durbin, specifically cited the importance of learning
                the lessons of the Holocaust as well as the Armenian Genocide, and the
                Cambodian and Rwandan genocides in an effort to prevent the repetition
                of similar atrocities in the future.

                Earlier this year, Ensign and Durbin also urged President Bush
                to properly characterize the genocide in his annual statement of
                remembrance.

                "We commend the leadership of Senators Ensign and Durbin for
                this Senate initiative to reaffirm the incontestable fact of the
                Armenian Genocide," said AAA Board of Trustees Chairman Hirair
                Hovnanian. "The U.S. National Archives contain thousands of pages
                documenting the Armenian Genocide as this crime against humanity
                was being committed. As such, Congress has an important opportunity
                in this 90th commemorative year to squarely combat Turkey's ongoing
                campaign of denial by recognizing the cataclysmic events of 1915."

                "We join with Armenian Americans across the United States in welcoming
                the introduction today of the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the
                Senate by Senators Ensign and Durbin - two long- standing supporters
                of putting our government back on the right side of this human rights
                issue," said the Armenian National Committee of America Executive
                Director Aram Hamparian. "We look forward to working with our Senate
                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 Senate."

                System Of A Down's Serj Tankian - a leading advocate internationally
                for genocide recognition and prevention campaigns - said that, "The
                20th century has seen the most atrocious form of man's cruelty against
                his own creed. The Armenian Genocide was the first in these series of
                bloodbaths and Darfur seems to be the latest. When you don't recognize
                the first, it's difficult to mobilize against the last. We need to
                stop being apologists for Turkey's past crimes that continue in denial
                and unrepentance. We need to stand in solidarity with those in prison
                that have been put there for speaking their minds about the denial
                of the Armenian Genocide and other human rights issues within Turkey."

                The Senate resolution is expected to be referred to the Foreign
                Relations Committee for consideration.
                "All truth passes through three stages:
                First, it is ridiculed;
                Second, it is violently opposed; and
                Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

                Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

                Comment


                • #9
                  The Issue of Armenian Genocide to Be Discussed in Both Chambers of U.S. Senate

                  Three draft resolutions on Armenian genocide have already been submitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives.

                  22.11.2005 GMT+04:00
                  The draft resolution submitted to the US Senate recognizes Armenian genocide. Co-authors of the document – republican John Ensign and democrat Richard Durbin are sure that Washington’s recognition of the 20th century’s first genocide is of utmost importance. The document has been prepared in cooperation with the Armenian Assembly of America and Armenian National Committee.

                  /PanARMENIAN.Net/ The submitted document calls the president to give an adequate appraisal of the events of 1915 in the traditional April 24 message to the Armenian community. John Ensign and Richard Durbin insist that George Bush has to “qualify the murder of millions of Armenians as genocide”. It is worth reminding that yet in late 1980s the US Congress made a decision according to which the president has to address Armenian community of America every year on April 24. However, none of the US presidents has ever distinctly pronounces the word “genocide”. Nevertheless, Ronald Reagan who used to be the head of Armenian-populated state of California indirectly recognized the fact of Armenian genocide and senators Ensign and Durbin lay special stress on this precedent. Besides, they refer to the outstanding diplomat, former US Ambassador to Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau who was one of the firsts to qualify the massacres organized by young Turks as genocide.

                  The draft resolution does not suppose mechanical recognition of Armenian genocide by the US administration. In case of approval, the document will be just a recommendation and the White House can neglect it if necessary. Interestingly, senators Ensign and Durbin do not dare to suggest their colleagues to recognize Armenian genocide despite the administration's will. They urge the president to do so, knowing that George Bush is not inclined to that. However, the possible approval of the initiative by the Senate will be a significant breakthrough in the issue of international recognition of Armenian genocide. Approval of the document will already be enough to consider United States as the 17th country to recognize Armenian genocide.

                  This is the first serious attempt to promote recognition of Armenian genocide by the upper chamber of the American parliament. Previously, Armenian lobbyists paid more attention to the work with the House of Representatives where three attempts had been made to put «Armenian resolutions» on the agenda. Currently, in the House of Representatives there are two projects directly or indirectly mentioning Armenian genocide. In September the Committee for International Affairs approved resolutions 316 and 195. In both documents the events of 1915 were qualified as genocide. The first document introduced by the co-chairmen of the Congress Armenian group Frank Pallone and Joe Nolenberg calls the administration not to allow distortions of real facts in the appraisal of events that were really a genocide. The second project is dedicated to regional problems and Armenian genocide is mentioned only in passing.

                  Thus, it is quite obvious that the massive efforts to achieve recognition of Armenian genocide on a legislative level are made in both chambers at the same time. Now, it is hard to say in which chamber success will be achieved. In any case approval of one of the resolutions in one of the chambers will mean that approval also in the other chamber. There are certain grounds to suppose that success is guaranteed if the project is put on the agenda. In order to put the issue on the agenda of the House of Representatives it is necessary to collect signatures of one third of congressmen, that is to say at least 142. Promoters of the resolution have already collected about 130 signatures. Meanwhile the number of people in the Armenian group of the Congress has reached 149. (The last congressman was Mike Fitzpatrick who joined the group last week) This fact gives grounds to hope that very soon the US administration will have to agree that legislators call spade a spade.
                  "All truth passes through three stages:
                  First, it is ridiculed;
                  Second, it is violently opposed; and
                  Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

                  Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

                  Comment

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