OVER 200 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS URGE U.S. PRESIDENT TO PROPERLY
CHARACTERIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
WASHINGTON, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Two hundred and
eight U.S. legislators called on President Bush on April 20 to
reaffirm the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). In separate letters,
178 Representatives and 30 Senators specifically asked the President
to properly characterize the atrocities as “genocide,” in his annual
April 24th remarks. In February of 2000, during Michigan’s hotly
contested Republican primary, then Governor Bush promised to properly
recognize the Armenian Genocide if elected president. Since taking
office in 2001, the President has retreated from this pledge, issuing
a succession of April 24th statements that use evasive and euphemistic
terminology to diminish the full historical, moral, and contemporary
legal implications of Ottoman Turkey’s genocide against the Armenian
nation. The House letter, organized by Congressional Armenian Caucus
Co-Chairmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), stressed
that, “the United States must never allow crimes against humanity to
pass without remembrance and condemnation. As U.S. efforts to aid
victims of genocide continue, it is imperative that we pay tribute to
the memory of others who have suffered and never forget the past. By
commemorating the Armenian Genocide, we renew our commitment to
prevent future atrocities and therefore negate the dictum that history
is condemned to repeat itself.” The Senate letter, led by Senators
John Ensign (R-NV) and Richard Durbin (D-IL), noted that, “The memory
of the Armenian Genocide underscores our responsibility to speak
forcefully about our respect for fundamental human rights and
opposition to mass slaughters. It is in the best interests of our
nation and the entire global community to remember the past and learn
from these crimes against humanity to ensure that they are never
repeated. We respectfully request that you refer to the mass slaughter
of Armenians as genocide in your commemorative statement.” “The
Armenian Genocide is incontrovertible, of which the U.S. Archives is
replete with thousands of pages documenting this horrific crime,” said
Co-Chairmen Joe Knollenberg and Frank Pallone. “The President has
employed a textbook definition of genocide to describe the events that
occurred from 1915-1923, but a full and irrevocable U.S. affirmation
of the Armenian Genocide is necessary to prevent such crimes from
happening in the future.” “We are very gratified by the strong,
bipartisan message from Congress encouraging the President to properly
recognize the Armenian Genocide in his April 24th remarks,” said Aram
Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “We join with our
Congressional friends – most notably Senators John Ensign and Dick
Durbin and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg
– in calling for moral clarity in our nation’s response to genocide.”
Members of Congress joining Reps. Pallone and Knollenberg in co-
signing the letter included: Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Gary Ackerman
(D-NY), Tom Allen (D-ME), Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Joe Baca (D-CA),
Brian Baird (D-WA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Gresham Barrett (R-SC),
Charles Bass (R-NH), Melissa Bean (D-IL), Bob Beauprez (R- CO), Xavier
Becerra (D-CA), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Howard Berman (D-CA), Michael
Bilirakis (R-FL), Tim Bishop (D-NY), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Sherwood
Boehlert (R-NY), Mary Bono (R-CA), Jeb Bradley (R-NH), Sherrod Brown
(D-OH), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Dave Camp (R-MI), Lois Capps (D-CA),
Michael Capuano (D-MA), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA),
William Clay (D-MO), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), John Conyers (D-MI), Jim
Costa (D-CA), Jerry Costello (D- IL), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Danny
Davis (D-IL), Susan Davis (D-CA), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Diana DeGette
(D-CO), William Delahunt (D- MA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Charles Dent
(R-PA), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), John Dingell (D-MI), Lloyd Doggett
(D-TX), John Doolittle (R-CA), Mike Doyle (D-PA), David Dreier (R-CA),
Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Lane
Evans (D-IL), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Mike Ferguson (R-NJ), Bob Filner
(D-CA), Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Mark Foley (R-FL), Vito Fossella
(R-NY), Barney Frank (D-MA), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Scott
Garrett (R-NJ), Jim Gibbons (R-NV), Charlie Gonzalez (D-TX), Al Green
(D-TX), Gene Green (D-TX), Mark Green (R-WI), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ),
Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Stephanie Herseth (D-SD), Maurice Hinchey
(D-NY), Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Michael Honda (D-CA),
Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Steve Israel (D-NY), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Jesse
Jackson (D-IL), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Marcy
Kaptur (D-OH), Sue Kelly (R-NY), Mark Kennedy (R-MN), Patrick Kennedy
(D-RI), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH),
John R. Randy, Jr. Kuhl (R-NY), James Langevin (D- RI), John Larson
(D-CT), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Sander Levin (D-MI), John Lewis (D-GA),
Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA),
Nita Lowey (D-NY), Dan Lungren (R-CA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Carolyn
Maloney (D-NY), Edward Markey (D-MA), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Carolyn
McCarthy (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Jim
McDermott (D-WA), James McGovern (D- MA), John McHugh (R-NY), Buck
McKeon (R-CA), Cynthia McKinney (D- GA), Cathy McMorris (R-WA),
Michael McNulty (D-NY), Martin Meehan (D-MA), Michael Michaud (D-ME),
Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA), Candice Miller (R-MI), Gwen Moore
(D-WI), James Moran (D-VA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Marilyn Musgrave
(R-CO), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Richard Neal (D-MA), Eleanor Holmes
Norton (D-DC), Devin Nunes (R- CA), John Olver (D-MA), C. L. Butch
Otter (R-ID), William Pascrell (D-NJ), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Nancy
Pelosi (D-CA), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Richard Pombo (R-CA), Jon
Porter (R-NV), George Radanovich (R-CA), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Mike
Rogers (R-MI), Mike Ross (D- AR), Steven Rothman (D-NJ), Lucille
Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Edward Royce (R-CA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Paul
Ryan (R-WI), John Salazar (D- CO), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Loretta
Sanchez (D-CA), Bernard Sanders I VT), H. James Saxton (R-NJ), Janice
Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Joe
Schwarz (R-MI), David Scott (D-GA), E. Clay Shaw (R-FL), Christopher
Shays (R-CT), Brad Sherman (D-CA), John Shimkus (R-IL), Rob Simmons
(R-CT), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Mark Souder
(R-IN), Pete Stark (D-CA), Ted Strickland (D-OH), John Sweeney (R-NY),
Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), John Tierney (D-MA),
Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Mark Udall (D-CO), Christopher Van Hollen
(D-MD), Peter Visclosky (D-IN), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Diane Watson
(D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Curt Weldon (R-
PA), Dave Weldon (R-FL), Gerald Weller (R-IL), Joe Wilson (R-SC),
Frank Wolf (R-VA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). Senators cosigning the
letter to President Bush along with Senators Ensign and Durbin were:
Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Wayne Allard (R-CO), George Allen (R-VA), Barbara
Boxer (D-CA) , Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Norm
Coleman (R-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Russ
Feingold (D-WI), Dianne Feinstein (D- CA), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Edward
Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Carl Levin
(D-MI), Joseph Lieberman (D- CT), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Barak Obama
(D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Harry Reid (D-NV), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Rick
Santorum (R-PA), Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Olympia
Snowe (R-ME), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and John Sununu (R-NH).