PanARMENIAN.Net

U.S. Congress Continues to Oppose Candidacy of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia
13.01.2007 14:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Frank Pallone and New
York Congressman Anthony Weiner today sharply criticized the White
House’s decision to resubmit the nomination of Richard Hoagland as
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. The Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) reports, Congressman Pallone remarked that Congressman
Weiner has sent a letter to President Bush after Senator Bob Menendez
announced that he has, once again, placed a "hold" blocking the
Hoagland nomination’s approval by the U.S. Senate, despite the fact
that 97 percent of Armenian Americans oppose the Hoagland
nomination. `His denial of the Armenian Genocide makes him unfit to
represent American interests in Yerevan." says Weiner in his latter.

In remarks addressed to his House colleagues and the C-SPAN audience,
Congressman Pallone stressed that, "the Bush Administration continues
to play word games by not calling evil by its proper name in this
case. Instead they refer to the mass killings of 1.5 million
Armenians as tragic events. That term should not be substituted for
genocide. The two words are simply not synonymous. There are
historical documents that show that the genocide cannot be refuted but
somehow the Bush Administration continues to ignore the truth in fear
of offending the Turkish government." He added that, The American
people and this Congress deserve a full and truthful account of the
role of the Turkish government in denying the Armenian genocide."