CONGRESSMAN RADANOVICH PLEDGES TO SUPPORT GENOCIDE REAFFIRMATION EFFORTS

WASHINGTON, DC, MARCH 18. ARMINFO. The Armenian Assembly’s campaign
for reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide gained strength today as
Representative George Radanovich (R-CA), a member of the Congressional
Caucus on Armenian Issues, vowed to sponsor and support initiatives
leading to U.S. recognition of the attempted annihilation of the
Armenian people.

AAA reports that in a speech before Congress today, Radanovich thanked
current and former U.S. Ambassadors to Armenia John Evans and Harry
Gilmore for publicly using the term to characterize this crime against
humanity. “I thank the Ambassadors for their statements and pledge to
continue my ongoing efforts to sponsor initiatives that would build on
the U.S. record towards an inevitable, full and irrevocable
U.S. reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide,” Radanovich said. Evans,
who has studied Russian and Ottoman History at Yale and Columbia
Universities, as well as the Kennan Institute, publicly affirmed the
Armenian Genocide during meetings with major Armenian-American
communities last month.

During those exchanges, Evans declared, “the Armenian Genocide was the
first genocide of the twentieth century.” Gilmore, who has also
studied the subject extensively, recently told Radio Free Europe/
Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that, “There is no doubt that the Armenian
events were genocide.” The former diplomat told the news agency that
the United Nations Genocide Convention, which was adopted following
World War II, “sets up a standard and the massacres and deportations
of the Ottoman Armenians meet that standard fully.”

On the heels of these and other pubic declarations, the Armenian
Assembly launched a national campaign to urge President Bush to
properly recognize the Armenian Genocide in his statement of
remembrance next month.

To that end, the Assembly mobilized its nationwide network of
activists to join this effort, and those of Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone,
Jr. (D-NJ), who are rallying Members of Congress to urge the President
to formally recognize the Genocide.