HOUSE APPROVES GENOCIDE MEASURES
By Michael Doyle, Mcclatchy News Service

Tri-Valley Herald,
Sept 16 2005

Federal panel goes on record affirming the Ottoman Empire’s killing
of countless Armenians

WASHINGTON – History returned with a vengeance Thursday as a House
committee approved the latest versions of an Armenian genocide
resolution.

With San Joaquin Valley lawmakers and residents looking on
approvingly, the House International Relations Committee approved
the two politically charged Armenian measures by wide margins. It’s
the first time in five years the panel has taken up the resolutions
that incite international controversy.

“I think it’s great,” said Mariposa Republican George Radanovich,
lead author of one of the two Armenian genocide measures. “This is
a good message to send to Turkey.”

But with the Bush administration strongly opposed, and the government
of Turkey lumbering out its big lobbying guns, the Armenian genocide
resolutions still face an uncertain future.

“These resolutions could undermine efforts to rebuild a partnership
between the United States and Turkey in pursuit of America’s broad
national security interests,” Assistant Secretary of State Matthew
Reynolds cautioned in a letter Thursday.

The White House and congressional Republican leaderscan still quash
the Armenian genocide measures in several ways. House Speaker Dennis
Hastert can simply refuse to let them reach the House floor, as he
did in October 2000 to block an earlier Radanovich effort.

Conceivably, Republican leaders could also bring them up under a
procedure that would require a two-thirds vote to pass.

“As it stands now, it’s tough,” Radanovich conceded.

Both resolutions would put the House of Representatives on record
as affirming that the Ottoman Empire engaged in attempted genocide
between 1915 and 1923. Countless Armenians died; Turkish officials now
estimate hundreds of thousands perished in a wider war, while Armenians
contend as many as 1.5 million were killed in a targeted campaign.

Approved by a 40-7 margin, Radanovich’s resolution spells out in 11
pages the evidence demonstrating why the 1915-23 catastrophe deserves
the name genocide. This characterization is the fundamental purpose of
the resolution, which would not have the force of law even if passed
by the House.

The committee also approved by a 35-11 margin a related resolution
authored by Pasadena Democrat Adam Schiff, which also goes on to urge
the Turkish government to acknowledge that a genocide occurred.

“This is a step toward righting an historical injustice,” Schiff said.

Turkish officials and their allies retort that history is ambiguous,
with Turkish Ambassador Faruk Logoglu urging lawmakers in a letter
Thursday to “not let our as-yet unreconciled views of a specific
era dictate our present or our future.” The Turkish government has
proposed that a joint study commission with historians from both
countries examine the evidence.

“I’m afraid the resolution will perpetuate a standoff,” Florida
Democrat Robert Wexler said. “It is time for all parties to place a
greater emphasis on bringing Armenian and Turkish groups together.”

More bluntly, Indiana Republican Dan Burton questioned why Congress was
“rehashing this over and over and over again.” Burton has been one of
the most adamant opponents of the Armenian genocide resolution in its
past iterations, and he spent part of his time Thursday recounting
Armenia’s own alleged depredations during its war with Azerbaijan.

Schiff and Radanovich both represent districts with sizable Armenian
American populations, where politically active constituents have long
pressed the genocide resolutions. Merced Democrat Dennis Cardoza,
a member of the International Relations Committee, also supported the
resolutions that were a deeply personal issue for some in the packed
hearing room.

Part-time Fresno resident Paul Jamushian, for one, described himself as
a “genocide son.” His mother was slashed and left for dead at age 4,
he said, while his father was smuggled to safety dressed as a little
girl. Now retired, and alternating his time between Washington and
Fresno, Jamushian listened avidly to the debate that started midmorning
and carried on into the afternoon.

Sitting not too far way was the physically imposing former chairman
of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, Bob Livingston. Now
a lobbyist, Livingston represents Turkey under a contract originally
pegged at $1.8 million. Scooping up the whole scene were multiple
reporters from Turkish media outlets.

“The reason we have yet to succeed is simple,” Schiff said. “The
government of Turkey has spent millions of dollars and countless
efforts (to oppose the bill.)”