PanARMENIAN.Net

U.S. has special responsibility to ensure that lessons
of past are never forgotten
31.01.2007 15:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Shortly after the Armenian Genocide
bill was introduced in the U.S. House of
Representatives, Congressmen Pallone, Schiff,
Knollenberg, and Radanovich held a press conference on
Capitol Hill which was attended by Genocide survivors
Rose Baboyian and Yer. Sirarpi Khoyan, members of the
media, the Armenian Assembly and other leading
Armenian-American organizations and community
supporters.

"The United States has a compelling historical and
moral reason to recognize the Armenian Genocide, which
cost a million and a half people their lives," said
Schiff, the bill’s lead sponsor. "But we also have a
powerful contemporary reason as well — how can we
take effective action against the genocide in Darfur
if we lack the will to condemn genocide whenever and
wherever it occurs? With the new leadership in
Congress, I am hopeful we can finally get this
resolution passed."

Congressman Radanovich said he was pleased that the
bill was introduced with the strong support of his
House colleagues, adding that "the United States has a
special responsibility to ensure that the lessons of
the past are never forgotten – no matter the political
discomfort or cost."

Congressmen Pallone and Knollenberg said they would
work with members of the Armenian Caucus and the
leadership of both parties to secure a floor vote. "By
properly recognizing the systematic torture and murder
of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide, we will honor
America’s historic leadership and remind the world of
the democratic and humanitarian values on which our
country is founded," the lawmakers said, reports the
Armenian Assembly of America.