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ANCA Outlines Case for Holding Genocide Resolution Vote

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  • ANCA Outlines Case for Holding Genocide Resolution Vote

    Armenian National Committee of America
    888 17th Street 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
    May 23, 2004
    Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
    Tel: (202) 775-1918


    ANCA OUTLINES CASE FOR HOLDING GENOCIDE RESOLUTION VOTE

    -- Urges Speaker Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Frist
    to Heed Congressional and Constituent Calls for Action

    WASHINGTON, DC - The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA),
    again this week, urged the Congressional leadership to take note of
    the overwhelming bipartisan support for legislation marking the 15th
    anniversary of the U.S. implementation of the Genocide Convention
    and schedule a vote on the Senate and House Genocide resolutions
    (S.Res.164 and H.Res.193).

    In an ANCA update sent to Members of Congress, ANCA Government
    Affairs director Abraham Niziblian outlined ten key reasons why Senate
    Majority Leader Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert should place
    the Genocide legislation on the Congressional docket for action.
    The complete Memorandum follows.

    The Genocide resolution was introduced in the Senate in June, 2003 by
    Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ). Its companion House
    measure, H.Res.193, led by Representatives George Radanovich (R-CA),
    Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank
    Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), was adopted unanimously by
    the House Judiciary Committee last May and has 111 cosponsors. The
    resolution cites the importance of remembering past crimes against
    humanity, including the Armenian Genocide, Holocaust, Cambodian and
    Rwandan genocides, in an effort to stop future atrocities. Support
    for the measure has been widespread, with a diverse coalition of over
    100 ethnic, religious, civil and human rights organizations calling
    for its passage, including American Values, National Organization
    of Women, Sons of Italy, NAACP, Union of Orthodox Rabbis, and the
    National Council of La Raza.

    #####

    ================================================== =
    An Update on the Congressional Genocide Resolution
    ======================================= ============

    It has been more than a year since Representatives George Radanovich,
    Adam Schiff, and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co- Chairs Frank Pallone
    and Joe Knollenberg introduced the House version of the Genocide
    Resolution, H.Res.193, in April of 2003. Senators John Ensign and
    Jon Corzine introduced the Senate version, S.Res.164, in June of 2003.

    If the House and Senate leaderships do not schedule votes on their
    respective Genocide Resolutions, this human rights legislation will
    die with the end of Congressional session this November.

    The key question, with less than six months before the end of the
    Congressional session, is - "Why have House Speaker Dennis Hastert
    and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist not scheduled votes on the
    Genocide Resolution?"

    Provided below are ten compelling reasons why the Genocide Resolution
    deserves a vote:

    1) The Genocide Resolution seeks to prevent future genocides

    At its heart, the goal of the Genocide Resolution is to prevent future
    genocides. This legislation stresses the importance of remembering
    and learning the lessons of past crimes against humanity, including
    the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, and the Cambodian and Rwandan
    genocides, in an effort to stop future atrocities. Supporters of
    this legislation recognize that silence in the face of genocide only
    encourages those who would commit such atrocities in the future.

    2) The Genocide Resolution strengthens America's commitment to the
    Genocide Convention

    The resolution strengthens America's commitment to the universal
    values of the Genocide Convention and calls on the United States to
    commemorate the 15th anniversary of the U.S. implementation of the
    Genocide Convention. The law implementing the Convention, known as the
    Proxmire Act, was named after the Wisconsin Senator who led a tireless
    20-year campaign to attain U.S. adoption of the Genocide Convention.
    Senator Proxmire, noted for his unswerving commitment to human rights,
    delivered over 3,200 speeches during his Senate career to ensure
    passage of this measure.

    3) The Genocide Resolution was unanimously adopted by the House
    Judiciary Committee

    On May 21, 2003 the House Judiciary Committee adopted the Genocide
    Resolution without a single dissenting vote. The report prepared by
    the House Judiciary Committee described the Armenian Genocide in the
    following terms: "Beginning in 1915, the Islamic Turkish state of the
    Ottoman Empire sought to end the collective existence of the Christian
    Armenian population. From 1915 through 1918, during World War I,
    the Ottoman Empire subjected the Armenian people to deportation,
    expropriation, abduction, torture, massacre, and starvation. The
    atrocities were renewed between 1920 and 1923. It is estimated that
    one and a half million Armenians were killed out of over two million
    Armenians who had lived in the Ottoman Empire."

    4) The Genocide Resolution has broad, bipartisan support

    This measure has been cosponsored by 39 Senators and 111
    Representatives.

    This March, a bi-partisan group of over sixty (60) U.S.
    Representatives co-signed a Congressional letters Speaker Dennis
    Hastert to bring the Genocide Resolution, H.Res.193, to a vote in the
    U.S. House. The letter, which was initiated by Genocide Resolution
    author Rep. George Radanovich, stressed that: "As we saw in Rwanda
    a decade ago, and as we witness today the signs of a possible new
    genocide emerging around the world - as a government and a people
    - we must make sure that we apply the lessons of past genocide to
    prevent future crimes against humanity. Sadly, even as we confront
    new genocides, we still have among us those who - against all facts
    and morality- deny the Holocaust or seek rewrite the history of the
    past atrocities. These hateful deniers dishonor the dead and threaten
    the living. They make the world a more dangerous place by emboldening
    future potential perpetrators of genocide to believe that their crimes
    can be committed with impunity. Adolf Hitler confirmed this with his
    chilling remark to his military staff prior to launching the Holocaust:
    "who, after all, remembers the annihilation of the Armenians."

    5) The Genocide Resolution has been endorsed by a coalition of over
    100 organizations

    Support for the Genocide Resolution has been widespread, with a
    diverse coalition of over one hundred (100) ethnic, religious, civil
    and human rights organizations calling for its passage, including
    American Values, National Organization of Women, Sons of Italy,
    National Council of Churches, NAACP, Union of Orthodox Rabbis, and
    the National Council of La Raza.

    6) Pulitzer Prize winning author supports adoption of the Genocide
    Resolution

    Samantha Power, the Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author of "A Problem
    from Hell" - America and the Age of Genocide, supports the Genocide
    Resolution. Ms. Power, who formerly served as Executive Director
    of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the John F. Kennedy
    School of Government at Harvard University, has said that, "For
    too long American leaders and citizens have reflexively uttered
    the phrase "never again" without taking concrete steps to give the
    slogan meaning. This legislation marks the beginning of a twenty-
    first century campaign to get the U.S. government to commit itself
    politically and operationally to prevent future genocide."

    7) Over forty (40) legislators participated personally in the Capitol
    Hill Observance of the Armenian Genocide

    On April 28th, over 40 Senators and Representatives participated in
    the Armenian Genocide Observance on Capitol Hill, which attracted
    hundreds of Armenian Americans who traveled to Washington, DC from
    around the nation to thank their legislators for supporting the
    passage of the Genocide Resolution.

    8) One hundred and ninety-one (191) members of Congress asked President
    this April to recognize the Armenian Genocide

    One hundred and sixty-nine (169) U.S. Representatives and twenty-
    two (22) U.S. Senators co-signed Congressional letters this April
    urging President Bush to honor his pledge to properly recognize the
    Armenian Genocide in his annual April 24th remarks.

    9) National Genocide Resolution postcard campaign

    Over 75,000 Armenian Americans and other friends of Armenia have
    participated in a national postcard campaign urging House Speaker
    Hastert and Senate Majority Leader to bring the Genocide Resolution
    to a vote in their respective houses of Congress. In California alone,
    this postcard campaign has been publicly endorsed by the Mayor of Los
    Angeles Mayor James Hahn; State Controller Steve Westly; Attorney
    General Bill Lockyer; Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi; Los
    Angeles Supervisor Mike Antonovich; Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, and a
    many others.

    10) Benefit concert supports passage of Genocide Resolution

    The multi-platinum selling, Grammy Award nominated band "System Of
    A Down" played a sold-out benefit concert in Los Angeles on April
    24th for the Armenian National Committee of America and other groups
    supporting the Genocide Resolution.
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