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HOUSE TAKES UP NEW ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
The Fresno Bee, CA
March 19 2015
By Michael Doyle
Bee Washington BureauMarch 18, 2015
WASHINGTON -- California lawmakers on Wednesday helped relaunch the
latest, long-shot bid to put the House of Representatives on record
as recognizing the Armenian genocide.
A perennial effort that always faces stiff political and diplomatic
headwinds, the familiar resolution was introduced Wednesday with
more than 40 co-sponsors, some of them House freshmen. The intention,
though, remains the same as it has been for several decades.
"It's our responsibility as members of Congress . . . and as friends
of the Armenians that live in our communities today, to make sure
this atrocity that happened is remembered," said Rep. David Valadao,
R-Hanford. "We have a responsibility to make sure the president and
Turkey recognize what happened."
Jim Costa, the Fresno Democrat in the House, noted that the 100th
anniversary of the genocide will be marked next month. "Acknowledging
this atrocity would finally allow a fair, just, and comprehensive
international resolution of this crime against humanity," he said.
"Our detractors will always say, 'Now is not the right time.' I say,
'The time is now!' Congress and the president should go on record
acknowledging this atrocity once and for all."
Dubbed the Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Resolution, the
nonbinding measure calls on President Barack Obama to help restore
Armenian-Turkish relations "based upon the Republic of Turkey's full
acknowledgment of the facts and ongoing consequences of the Armenian
Genocide."
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of the horrific
series of events that left, in the words of the House members' joint
statement Wednesday, "1.5 million Armenians dead and millions more
displaced."
Historians and myriad governmental bodies have characterized the
events that took place between 1915 and 1923 as genocide, a term
first recognized in international law in 1948 as referring to actions
intended to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial
or religious group.
Turkey, a key NATO ally, vigorously disputes the accuracy of the
genocide term. A spokesman for the Turkish Embassy in Washington
declined to comment pending guidance from officials in Ankara.
As a senator, Obama used the phrase "Armenian genocide," and the
adviser who became his United Nations ambassador, Samantha Power,
effectively assured Armenian American voters in a campaign video that
Obama would continue to do so once elected.
"He's a person who can actually be trusted," Power said then, "which
distinguishes him from some in the Washington community."
But as president, like others before him, Obama has carefully avoided
the diplomatically delicate phrase. Further underscoring the very
long odds against the resolution reaching the floor, House Speaker
John Boehner has previously declared that what happened "ought to
be a subject for historians to sort out, not politicians here in
Washington."
The 10-paragraph resolution is not especially partisan. The measure's
initial batch of co-sponsors includes Republicans and Democrats,
a number of whom represent districts with significant Armenian
American populations.
"We in Congress and the president have an opportunity and an obligation
to send a strong message that we will never forget those who were lost,
and we will call this crime against humanity what it was: genocide,"
said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Costa was an early co-sponsor, as were other lawmakers from the state's
Central Valley, including Valley Republican Reps. Jeff Denham, Devin
Nunes, and Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Redding.
Over many years of trying, the House has twice passed an Armenian
genocide resolution, in 1975 and again in 1984.
Representatives from California's Central Valley have long led
the resolution efforts, going back at least as far as 1979, when
Fresno-area Republican Rep. Charles "Chip" Pashayan introduced one
version. But it went nowhere.
In 2000, then-Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif., was literally within
minutes of getting a resolution to the House floor before then-Speaker
Dennis Hastert yanked it at the request of the Clinton administration.
In 2007, a resolution had momentum before 25 co-sponsors had second
thoughts and withdrew their support in the face of Bush administration
concerns.
"I don't want to suggest it's going to be an easy task," Rep. Frank
Pallone, D-N.J., acknowledged Wednesday. "It is tough."
The Turkish government also employs a battery of lobbyists to make
its case, led by former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt. Turkey
is paying $1.7 million for the lobbyists between March 1 and the end
of 2015, according to the most recent Justice Department filing.
Among the other lobbying firms now registered to aid Turkey's cause
is the one that employs Hastert, the former speaker who killed the
genocide resolution in 2000 and who resigned in 2007.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/03/18/4433891_house-takes-up-new-armenian-genocide.html?rh=1
The Fresno Bee, CA
March 19 2015
By Michael Doyle
Bee Washington BureauMarch 18, 2015
WASHINGTON -- California lawmakers on Wednesday helped relaunch the
latest, long-shot bid to put the House of Representatives on record
as recognizing the Armenian genocide.
A perennial effort that always faces stiff political and diplomatic
headwinds, the familiar resolution was introduced Wednesday with
more than 40 co-sponsors, some of them House freshmen. The intention,
though, remains the same as it has been for several decades.
"It's our responsibility as members of Congress . . . and as friends
of the Armenians that live in our communities today, to make sure
this atrocity that happened is remembered," said Rep. David Valadao,
R-Hanford. "We have a responsibility to make sure the president and
Turkey recognize what happened."
Jim Costa, the Fresno Democrat in the House, noted that the 100th
anniversary of the genocide will be marked next month. "Acknowledging
this atrocity would finally allow a fair, just, and comprehensive
international resolution of this crime against humanity," he said.
"Our detractors will always say, 'Now is not the right time.' I say,
'The time is now!' Congress and the president should go on record
acknowledging this atrocity once and for all."
Dubbed the Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Resolution, the
nonbinding measure calls on President Barack Obama to help restore
Armenian-Turkish relations "based upon the Republic of Turkey's full
acknowledgment of the facts and ongoing consequences of the Armenian
Genocide."
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of the horrific
series of events that left, in the words of the House members' joint
statement Wednesday, "1.5 million Armenians dead and millions more
displaced."
Historians and myriad governmental bodies have characterized the
events that took place between 1915 and 1923 as genocide, a term
first recognized in international law in 1948 as referring to actions
intended to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial
or religious group.
Turkey, a key NATO ally, vigorously disputes the accuracy of the
genocide term. A spokesman for the Turkish Embassy in Washington
declined to comment pending guidance from officials in Ankara.
As a senator, Obama used the phrase "Armenian genocide," and the
adviser who became his United Nations ambassador, Samantha Power,
effectively assured Armenian American voters in a campaign video that
Obama would continue to do so once elected.
"He's a person who can actually be trusted," Power said then, "which
distinguishes him from some in the Washington community."
But as president, like others before him, Obama has carefully avoided
the diplomatically delicate phrase. Further underscoring the very
long odds against the resolution reaching the floor, House Speaker
John Boehner has previously declared that what happened "ought to
be a subject for historians to sort out, not politicians here in
Washington."
The 10-paragraph resolution is not especially partisan. The measure's
initial batch of co-sponsors includes Republicans and Democrats,
a number of whom represent districts with significant Armenian
American populations.
"We in Congress and the president have an opportunity and an obligation
to send a strong message that we will never forget those who were lost,
and we will call this crime against humanity what it was: genocide,"
said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Costa was an early co-sponsor, as were other lawmakers from the state's
Central Valley, including Valley Republican Reps. Jeff Denham, Devin
Nunes, and Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Redding.
Over many years of trying, the House has twice passed an Armenian
genocide resolution, in 1975 and again in 1984.
Representatives from California's Central Valley have long led
the resolution efforts, going back at least as far as 1979, when
Fresno-area Republican Rep. Charles "Chip" Pashayan introduced one
version. But it went nowhere.
In 2000, then-Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif., was literally within
minutes of getting a resolution to the House floor before then-Speaker
Dennis Hastert yanked it at the request of the Clinton administration.
In 2007, a resolution had momentum before 25 co-sponsors had second
thoughts and withdrew their support in the face of Bush administration
concerns.
"I don't want to suggest it's going to be an easy task," Rep. Frank
Pallone, D-N.J., acknowledged Wednesday. "It is tough."
The Turkish government also employs a battery of lobbyists to make
its case, led by former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt. Turkey
is paying $1.7 million for the lobbyists between March 1 and the end
of 2015, according to the most recent Justice Department filing.
Among the other lobbying firms now registered to aid Turkey's cause
is the one that employs Hastert, the former speaker who killed the
genocide resolution in 2000 and who resigned in 2007.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/03/18/4433891_house-takes-up-new-armenian-genocide.html?rh=1