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NEW U.S. ENVOY TO ARMENIA CLEARS SENATE HURDLE
Armenialiberty.org
Sept 14 2011
U.S. -- John Heffern, a career diplomat nominated by President Barack
Obama to serve as U.S. ambassador to Armenia.
Career diplomat John Heffern looks certain to be confirmed as the new
U.S. ambassador to Armenia after securing the backing of the Foreign
Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate.
The committee voted unanimously late on Tuesday to approve Heffern's
appointment announced by President Barack Obama in May. The vote
paved the way for its endorsement by the full Senate.
Heffern served as deputy head of the U.S. Mission at the NATO
headquarters in Brussels when he was nominated for the vacant
diplomatic post in Yerevan. He was previously the deputy chief of
mission at the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia.
The Senate panel was initially due to vote on the nomination in July.
The vote was postponed after one of its members, Senator Robert
Menendez, said he needs more time to review Heffern's answers to
his questions regarding the World War One-era slaughter of some 1.5
millions Armenians in Ottoman Turkey which many historians consider
genocide.
Heffern refused to describe the massacres as genocide during a
committee hearing held earlier in July. He said "the characterization
of those events is a policy decision that is made by the president
of the United States and that policy is enunciated in his April 24
Remembrance Day statement."
Obama declined to use the word genocide in that statement, contrary
to his promises given to the influential Armenian-American community
during the last U.S. presidential race.
Menendez expressed his dissatisfaction with Heffern's remarks on the
sensitive subject on July 13. "This is an inartful dance that we do ...
We have a historical knowledge of the facts which we accept that would
amount to genocide, but we are unwilling to reference it as genocide,"
he complained.
The New Jersey Democrat, known for his staunch support for
Armenian-American causes, voiced no objections to Heffern's appointment
before Tuesday's vote. The two main Armenian lobby groups in Washington
likewise stopped short of urging the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
to vote against the nominee.
Menendez famously blocked in 2007 congressional confirmation of
Richard Hoagland, another career diplomat nominated for the top U.S.
diplomatic post in Yerevan, because of the latter's failure to call
the 1915 massacres genocide. The administration of then President
George W. Bush was forced to make another ambassadorial appointment.
There has been far more controversy surrounding Senate confirmation
of Francis Ricciardone, Obama's pick to serve as U.S. ambassador to
Turkey. Ricciardone angered the Armenian-American community when
he told Menendez last month that most of more than 2,000 Armenian
churches that existed in Turkey before 1915 are still functioning.
Ricciardone failed to placate the community leaders and pro-Armenian
legislators after seemingly retracting that claim later in August.
Menendez stated on Tuesday that he has "lost confidence" in the
nominee. "His response indicates a lack of focus or interest in issues
affecting the Armenian community and sends a message to Turkey that
the Armenia issue is not an 'A-list' issue," he said before voting
against Ricciardone's confirmation along with two other senators.
But that did not keep the other members of the Senate panel from
approving the diplomat's appointment.
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24328593.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Armenialiberty.org
Sept 14 2011
U.S. -- John Heffern, a career diplomat nominated by President Barack
Obama to serve as U.S. ambassador to Armenia.
Career diplomat John Heffern looks certain to be confirmed as the new
U.S. ambassador to Armenia after securing the backing of the Foreign
Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate.
The committee voted unanimously late on Tuesday to approve Heffern's
appointment announced by President Barack Obama in May. The vote
paved the way for its endorsement by the full Senate.
Heffern served as deputy head of the U.S. Mission at the NATO
headquarters in Brussels when he was nominated for the vacant
diplomatic post in Yerevan. He was previously the deputy chief of
mission at the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia.
The Senate panel was initially due to vote on the nomination in July.
The vote was postponed after one of its members, Senator Robert
Menendez, said he needs more time to review Heffern's answers to
his questions regarding the World War One-era slaughter of some 1.5
millions Armenians in Ottoman Turkey which many historians consider
genocide.
Heffern refused to describe the massacres as genocide during a
committee hearing held earlier in July. He said "the characterization
of those events is a policy decision that is made by the president
of the United States and that policy is enunciated in his April 24
Remembrance Day statement."
Obama declined to use the word genocide in that statement, contrary
to his promises given to the influential Armenian-American community
during the last U.S. presidential race.
Menendez expressed his dissatisfaction with Heffern's remarks on the
sensitive subject on July 13. "This is an inartful dance that we do ...
We have a historical knowledge of the facts which we accept that would
amount to genocide, but we are unwilling to reference it as genocide,"
he complained.
The New Jersey Democrat, known for his staunch support for
Armenian-American causes, voiced no objections to Heffern's appointment
before Tuesday's vote. The two main Armenian lobby groups in Washington
likewise stopped short of urging the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
to vote against the nominee.
Menendez famously blocked in 2007 congressional confirmation of
Richard Hoagland, another career diplomat nominated for the top U.S.
diplomatic post in Yerevan, because of the latter's failure to call
the 1915 massacres genocide. The administration of then President
George W. Bush was forced to make another ambassadorial appointment.
There has been far more controversy surrounding Senate confirmation
of Francis Ricciardone, Obama's pick to serve as U.S. ambassador to
Turkey. Ricciardone angered the Armenian-American community when
he told Menendez last month that most of more than 2,000 Armenian
churches that existed in Turkey before 1915 are still functioning.
Ricciardone failed to placate the community leaders and pro-Armenian
legislators after seemingly retracting that claim later in August.
Menendez stated on Tuesday that he has "lost confidence" in the
nominee. "His response indicates a lack of focus or interest in issues
affecting the Armenian community and sends a message to Turkey that
the Armenia issue is not an 'A-list' issue," he said before voting
against Ricciardone's confirmation along with two other senators.
But that did not keep the other members of the Senate panel from
approving the diplomat's appointment.
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24328593.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress