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ANCA: Judiciary Cmt Sends Genocide Assets Recovery Bill to CA Legisl

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  • ANCA: Judiciary Cmt Sends Genocide Assets Recovery Bill to CA Legisl

    Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region
    104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
    Glendale, California 91206
    Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
    [email protected] www.anca.org
    PRESS RELEASE
    Friday, June 30, 2006

    Contact: Maral Habeshian
    Tel: (818) 500-1918


    Bill Opening California Courts to Recovery of Genocide Era Deposits
    Headed to State Assembly after Passage in Senate and Committees

    SACRAMENTO - The California State Assembly Judiciary Committee passed
    legislation on June 27 that would grant legal rights to Armenian
    Genocide survivors and their heirs to recover bank deposits wrongfully
    withheld since the Armenian Genocide by giving California courts
    jurisdiction over banks operating in the Ottoman Empire. The bill, SB
    1524, the "Armenian Genocide Bank and Looted Assets Recovery Act,"
    involves the recovery of funds from commercial entities operating in
    the region at the time.

    Testifying in support of SB 1524 at Tuesday's hearing, Armenian
    National Committee - Western Region (ANCA-WR) Board of Directors
    member Souzi Zerounian-Khanzadian told committee members that the
    reclamation of the assets can never serve as compensation for the
    atrocities endured during the Armenian Genocide. "It is simply a
    matter of justice exacted against those banks that took advantage of
    the genocide to profiteer in the midst and aftermath of genocide. A
    number of these banks continue to do business in California today
    either directly or through subsidiaries, therefore we ask you to adopt
    SB 1524 to help ensure this small measure of justice,"
    Zerounian-Khanzadian stressed.

    The bill passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee with a vote of 6-1
    and is expected to go to the floor of the Assembly for vote on August
    7, 2006 before going to the Governor. The State Senate has already
    passed the bill, which is authored by Senators Jackie
    Kanchelian-Speier and Charles "Chuck" Poochigian, and sponsored by
    ANCA-WR.

    The original Speier-Poochigian bill has been revised, however, due to
    a hostile amendment that was introduced and accepted during its
    hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 9. That amendment
    binds SB 1765, a bill entitling lawsuits to be filed for wrongfully
    repatriated Mexican Americans during the 1930s, to SB 1524.

    Commenting on the dissimilarities of the two bills,
    Zerounian-Khanzadian said that while the ANCA firmly believes in
    correcting all historic wrongs, the two distinct pieces of legislation
    are unreasonably and unfairly joined in fate, making the passage of
    one contingent on the other. "While these two pieces of legislation
    are both very significant, they must nevertheless be judged on their
    individual merits. They not only address acts that occurred
    separately, they also involve different fiscal impacts on the state."

    With an almost 1,000,000 strong Armenian community, California has a
    public policy interest in protecting the rights of its Armenian
    American constituency, asserted Zerounian-Khanzadian. "Almost every
    one of these individuals was impacted by the genocide. For many, their
    very presence in California is a direct result of the Armenian
    Genocide. They found a haven in California where they could rebuild
    their lives after escaping utter turmoil. These survivors have
    established their roots in and contributed to the growth of this great
    state. These outstanding and ongoing grievances must be addressed."
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