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Howard Berman Criticizes Lawmakers Who Opposed Armenian Genocide Res

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  • Howard Berman Criticizes Lawmakers Who Opposed Armenian Genocide Res

    HOWARD BERMAN CRITICIZES LAWMAKERS WHO OPPOSED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

    PanARMENIAN.Net
    April 19, 2010 - 20:28 AMT 15:28 GMT

    In an April 13 letter, Rep. Howard Berman chairman of the House Foreign
    Affairs Committee, criticized lawmakers who opposed Armenian Genocide
    resolution. Berman, a long-time backer of the measure, called some
    of the arguments being made against the resolution as "morally-blind."

    I disagree with many points in the letter, but I take particularly
    strong exception to the use of the phrase 'so-called 'Armenian
    Genocide Resolution," which casts doubt on the historicity of
    the Armenian Genocide. In doing so, it flies in the face of the
    overwhelming weight of unimpeachable historical evidence and the
    virtually unanimous opinion of genocide scholars," Berman writes in
    his Dear Colleague letter.

    The California Democrat was referring to another Dear Colleague
    letter, this one dated March 29 and signed by Reps. Steve Cohen Kay
    Granger (R-Texas) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), the three co-chairs of
    the Congressional Caucus on U.S.-Turkish Relations. In their letter,
    the three lawmakers asked their peers to call on Speaker Nancy Pelosi
    (D-Calif.) to not let the resolution come up for a floor vote.

    A spokeswoman for one of the members said it seemed as if Berman
    misread their letter. "The chairman's entire letter seems to emanate
    from a misreading of the words he referenced. The words 'so called'
    modify or refer to 'Resolution' - not to 'Armenian Genocide' -
    hence, the 'so called Resolution' or the 'so called Armenian Genocide
    Resolution,'" said Whitfield spokeswoman Kristin Walker.

    Walker also said the letter has not been released to Pelosi yet and
    has more than 20 lawmakers signing onto it so far.

    In their letter, the three members argue the resolution will cause
    "irrevocable harm" to U.S. foreign policy as well as "derail" the
    normalization process between Turkey and Armenia, which has been
    helped along by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, if it is
    voted on by the full House. They also believe the measure could hurt
    the U.S. economy, considering the more than $10 billion shipped to
    Turkey in U.S. exports each year.

    In his response, Berman takes issue with all of the Turkish Caucus
    leaders' points, saying that Turkey would not give up seeing U.S.
    intelligence on anti-Turkey militants in Iraq or forgo U.S. investment
    because of the measure. He also believes the normalization process
    between Armenia and Turkey has stalled not because of the U.S.
    resolution but because disagreements both sides have had on the
    deal instead.
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