TURKEY TO BRIBE U.S. CONGRESSMEN
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
June 1 2007
U.S. Department of Justice files obtained this week by the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA) reveal details about Turkey’s
new lobbying contract with DLA Piper, including a controversial –
although not entirely surprising – provision that seeks to prevent
even "debate" in the United States on legislation "that harms Turkey’s
interests or image."
According to the contract, Turkey is to pay DLA Piper $1.2 million
for the year and an additional $750,000 to The Livingston Group,
headed by Robert Livingston, a former Congressional leader, who
resigned in 1998 after a personal scandal.
"These new Department of Justice filings reveal just how deeply Dick
Gephardt has sunk, compromising his integrity by turning against a
human rights issue he energetically supported as an elected Member
of Congress," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We are
especially troubled by the provision in the contract that seeks to
export Turkey’s Criminal Code Article 301 to the United States by
requiring DLA Piper to prevent even ‘debate’ on issues Turkey considers
harmful to its image. This requirement, which falls far outside the
American democratic tradition, is, sadly, entirely consistent with
Turkish government’s efforts to suppress freedom of expression by
criminalizing speech that ‘insults Turkishness.’ Earlier this month,
Gephardt’s willingness to work as a part of Turkey’s denial campaign
stirred controversy across Capitol Hill. In a letter, three leading
Democratic supporters of the Armenian Genocide Resolution informed
their fellow Members that the his opposition to this human rights
legislation stood in sharp contrast to his strong record of supporting
this measure during his years in Congress. The letter, written by
Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA), the only Armenian American in
Congress, Frank Pallone (D-NJ), the Co-Chairman of the Armenian
Caucus, and Adam Schiff (D-CA), the lead sponsor of the Armenian
Genocide Resolution, was accompanied by a copy of a September 2000
letter signed by then- Representative Gephardt in support of the
timely adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
As a member of the House, Gephardt cosponsored legislation recognizing
the Armenian Genocide, as recently as H.Res.193 in 2003, and dating all
the way back to H.J.Res.192, more than 20 years ago, during the 99th
Congress. In 1998, he offered remarks at the ANCA Armenian Genocide
Observance on Capitol Hill.