Would Speaker Pelosi recognize Armenian genocide?

The Fresno Bee
Fresno Bee Opinion Blog

October 25, 2006

The Armenian National Committee of America thinks so. House Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi, who could be speaker next year if the Democrats
take over the House, supports the Armenian Genocide Resolution being
pushed by Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa. The current speaker,
Republican Dennis Hastert, has blocked the genocide resolution in the
House. The Armenian National Committee issued this press release today:

NANCY PELOSI PLEDGES TO SUPPORT CONGRESSIONAL ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
RECOGNITION

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), a
longtime supporter of Armenian American issues who is expected to become
Speaker if the Democrats win a majority in the House this November,
pledged today to support Armenian Genocide legislation next year during
in the 110th session of Congress.

In a statement released to Harut Sassounian, Publisher of the California
Courier, Congresswoman Pelosi stated that:

"I have supported legislation, including H.Res.316, that would properly
acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. It is imperative that the United
States recognize this atrocity and move to renew our commitment to
eliminate genocide whenever and wherever it exists. This effort enjoys
strong bipartisan support in the House, and I will continue to support
these efforts in the 110th Congress."

Sassounian’s weekly column appears internationally in more than a dozen
newspapers, as well as in the widely read Huffington Post.

"Nancy Pelosi’s powerful words and principled actions underscore the
stark difference between her and Dennis Hastert, who, during his tenure
as Speaker has consistently prevented a bipartisan majority from voting
in favor of U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide," said ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

The ANCA press release continues: Congresswoman Pelosi’s statement is
consistent with her past record of energetic and principled support for
U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide, dating back nearly 20 years.
Since her election to the House in 1986, she has worked closely with the
Bay Area Armenian National Committee, enjoying warm relations with the
Armenian American community in the greater Bay Area.

"The principled stand of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi comes as no
surprise, and we’re proud that she confirmed it again today," said Bay
Area ANC Chairwoman Roxanne Makasdjian. "The Bay Area Armenian community
has long known and respected Congresswoman Pelosi’s leadership o – n
genocide prevention, from her advocacy of Armenian Genocide recognition,
to ending the genocide taking place today in Darfur."

Speaker Hastert (R-IL), despite his pledge in August of 2000 to schedule
a vote o – n the Armenian Genocide Resolution, pulled the measure from the
House floor in October of that year, o – nly moments before it was set to
be adopted by a broad, bipartisan majority. He has, in every year since,
actively blocked legislation properly commemorating this crime against
humanity.

In July of 2004, following Congressman Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) successful
effort to secure the adoption by the U.S. House of an amendment
recognizing the Armenian Genocide, Speaker Hastert joined with other
members of the House leadership in vowing to block the final adoption of
the measure. In remarks posted at the top of the Speaker’s website o – n
the day after the amendment’s adoption, the Speaker stated that, "Turkey
has been a reliable ally of the United States for decades, and the deep
foundation upon which our mutual economic and security relationship
rests should not be disrupted by this amendment." He and his leadership
colleagues also vowed to
block any future consideration of the Armenian Genocide Resolution by
the full House of Representatives.

Speaker Hastert has received an "F" rating from the ANCA, while Minority
Leader Pelosi has consistently received "A" grades from the ANCA for her
principled support for Armenian American issues.

Speaking at a Capitol Hill observance in April of 2005, the California
Congresswoman countered those who have cited Turkey’s strategic position
as reason to oppose Armenian Genocide legislation, stressing that:

"First at the time of the Iron Curtain, [they cited] the strategic
location of Turkey, after that it was the Gulf War and Turkey’s
strategic location . . . Turkey’s strategic location is not a license to
kill."

In May of 2001, during her remarks at the ANCA’s annual Capitol Hill
Armenian Genocide observance, ongresswoman Pelosi noted that:

"The sad thing about that tragedy is that it is a tragedy twice. Once in
the course of the Genocide and secondly in the fact that we cannot get
the United States to pass a resolution memorializing and acknowledging
the terrible things that happened then . . This Armenian Genocide is a
challenge to the conscience of our country and the conscience of the
world. We will not rest until we have recognition of it."

Speaking o – n the House floor in April of 2001, she reminded her
colleagues that:

"Our alliance with Turkey should not deter us from learning the lessons
of past mistakes. If we ignore the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, we
are destined to repeat those same mistakes. The horrible conflicts in
Sudan, Sierra Leone, and East Timor remind us that we must do more to
prevent the systematic slaughter of innocent people. We must learn from
the past and never forget the victims of the Armenian genocide."

In April of 1999, in a statement o – n the House floor, the Congresswoman
stressed:

"As we enter the Third Millennium of the Christian Era, it behooves us
to remember. If we ignore the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, then we
are destined to continue our stumblings through the long, dark tunnel of
endless ethnic-cleansings, genocides, and holocausts Let us, then,
remember to remember."

In remarks marking the Armenian Genocide o – n the House floor in April of
1998, she explained that:

"On April 24, 1915, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire set out to
annihilate the Armenian minority. Over the course of the next eight
years, the Turkish government systematically murdered 1.5 million
Armenians and deported 500,000. By the end of 1923, the entire Armenian
population of Anatolia and Western Armenia was either murdered or
deported . . . While a growing number of Americans come to understand
the horror of this episode in history, the
perpetrators continue their denial."

In her April 1997 remarks to her House colleagues, the San
Francisco-based legislator reminded Members of Congress that:

"In 1944, noted jurist and scholar, Raphael Lemkin looked to a previous
generation when he coined the word `genocide’ to describe the systematic
annihilation of the Jewish people by the Nazis. Lemkin was thinking of
the Turkish attempt in 1915 to extinguish from this earth the ancient
community of Armenians living within
the Ottoman Empire. Ironically, Hitler had also referred to the
extermination of the Armenians when he spoke of his plans for the Jewish
people in 1939: `Who, after all, speaks today of the Armenians,’ Hitler
said."

In June of 1996, speaking in support of a Congressional measure,
authored by Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA) to cut aid to Turkey until it
ended its denial of the Armenian Genocide, Congresswoman Pelosi argued
that:

"Passage of this [Radanovich] amendment will serve to deter the Turkish
government from pursuing their unconscionable cover-up of this
internationally recognized crime against humanity."

In his most recent column, Sassounian criticized the current Speaker as
someone who "not o – nly has broken his pledge repeatedly, but has
actively blocked the Armenian Genocide resolution from being brought to
a floor vote." He stressed that, "On Nov. 7, members of the Armenian
American community should vote for all those [House] candidates,
regardless of their party affiliation, who are supportive of Armenian
issues. In the case of equally
supportive candidates in a particular race, the preference should be
given to the o – ne who is a Democrat in order to secure a Democratic
majority in the House, helping make Congresswoman Pelosi the next
Speaker, which will enable her to schedule a long overdue vote o – n the
Armenian Genocide resolution."

Posted by Jim Boren on October 25, 2006 08:35 AM