U.S. HOUSE MAJORITY PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL
By Aram Vanetsian in Los Angeles

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
July 12 2007

The Armenian community in the United States has secured the backing
of most members of the U.S. House of Representatives for a resolution
that refers to the 1915 mass killings and deportations of Armenians
in Ottoman Turkey as genocide.

In what the two leading Armenian-American lobbying groups consider an
important "milestone," the number of U.S. lawmaker co-sponsoring the
draft legislation reached 219 on Wednesday, significantly boosting
chances for its passage by the 435-member House.

That number includes a member of the U.S. Congress who died recently
and another congressman who has resigned from its lower house. They
are still technically listed as co-sponsors of the resolution.

"We are getting exceedingly closer to our goal of passing the Armenian
Genocide resolution and properly recognizing this historic tragedy,"
Congressman George Radanovich of California, one of the main proponents
of the bill, said in a statement.

"This is a positive development," Bryan Ardouny, executive director
of the Armenian Assembly of America, told RFE/RL from Washington.

"It’s another threshold, another milestone that we’ve reached, and
we’ll keep pushing forward."

Both the Assembly and the Armenian National Committee of America,
which have for decades been campaigning for U.S. recognition of the
genocide, say the mounting congressional support will make it easier
for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to put the resolution to the vote.

A longtime supporter of Armenian issues, Pelosi has reportedly
assured Armenian-American leaders of her continuing support for
genocide recognition. However, she is facing strong pressure from the
White House to prevent the bill from reaching the House floor. The
administration of President George W. Bush has warned that its passage
would deal a serious blow to Washington’s relations with Turkey,
a key U.S. ally.

The proposed resolution, which was introduced last January, calls
on Bush to "ensure that the foreign policy of the United States
reflects appropriate understanding" of the Armenian genocide and to
"accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation
of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide."

In his annual April 24 messages to the Armenian-American community,
Bush has described the bloody events of 1915 as one of the greatest
tragedies of the 20th century but stopped short of calling them a
genocide. He has also repeatedly cited a 2002 international study
which concluded that the Armenian massacres meet the internationally
accepted definition of genocide.

Ardouny could not say when the resolution might be brought before
the full House, saying that depends on Pelosi and other leaders of
the chamber’s Democratic majority. "We will continue to encourage
the House leadership to put the resolution to a concluding vote
reaffirming the Armenian genocide," he said.