CLOSE VOTE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DECIDED BY ANGUISHED ‘YEAS’
Ron Kampeas

Jewish Exponent, PA
Oct 18 2007

Members of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs ignored party
lines this week in a close vote Wednesday approving a resolution
recognizing the massacres carried out in 1915 and 1916 by Ottoman
forces against Armenians as a genocide.

But the tally among Jewish members on the committee — all of them
Democrats — was overwhelming: 7-1 in favor.

Overall, the motion passed the committee in a 27-21 vote — 19
Democrats and eight Republicans in favor, eight Democrats and 13
Republicans opposed — despite last-minute warnings from President
Bush and his top aides that the resolution could harm U.S. relations
with Turkey. Lawmakers from both parties openly anguished, with some
appearing to make up their minds only at the last minute.

And, despite the overwhelming support of Jewish committee members
for the resolution, nowhere was the anguish more palpable than in the
comments of some of these lawmakers, as they struggled to balance their
Holocaust-related sensitivity to the issue of recognizing genocide
with concern for maintaining strong ties with Turkey, a friendly
pro-American pro-Israeli Muslim beacon in a hostile neighborhood.

An 11th-Hour Plea Weighing additionally in the considerations of the
Jewish members was an 11th-hour plea from Turkey’s Jewish community,
which fears a rise of anti-Semitism should the resolution pass. Plus,
in recent weeks, Turkish spokesmen have noted the outspoken role
of some Jews and Jewish organizations in the campaign to pass the
resolution, and have suggested that relations with Israel could be
affected, although Israel has been supportive of Turkish calls to
resolve the issue through an international commission.

"This has been tough for me," said U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.),
the chairman of the committee’s Middle East subcommittee, when
announcing his vote in favor of the resolution. "I’m a big fan and
supporter of Turkey."

Ackerman looked across at four nonagenarian and centenarian survivors
of the genocide who had flown in for the hearing — two from his
district. His New York Democratic colleague, Eliot Engel, also
contemplated the women as he announced his position: "With a heavy
heart, I will vote for this resolution."

The four women sitting quietly in the cramped committee room’s second
row held the attention of the crowd, with members looking to them
when they announced their vote.

All the committee’s members weighed Turkey’s threats to downgrade its
military alliance with the United States, should the resolution pass
the full House against the powerful Armenian-American lobby and its
proven ability to swing key districts in California.

Three of the Jewish Democrats on the committee, plus the Democratic
lawmaker who sponsored the resolution, U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, are
from the Golden State. Schiff, who represents a substantial Armenian
community in his Los Angeles district, is not on the committee,
but attended the vote as an observer.

Jews in Massachusetts, which like California is home to a substantial
Armenian community, have also backed the resolution. On Monday,
two days before the hearing, the Jewish community there hosted the
Armenian pontiff, Karekin II, on a tour of Boston’s Holocaust memorial.

Turks were making their own case to the Jews through Holocaust
recognition; the same day as the Karekin tour, Turkey’s foreign
minister visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

‘A Critical Partner’ Two major Jewish groups — the American Jewish
Committee and the Anti-Defamation League — have recognized the
massacres as genocide, but cited concerns regarding Turkey in arguing
against the resolution.

For the seven Jews on the committee who voted for the measure, denials
of genocide had special resonance for a caucus dedicated to preserving
Holocaust remembrance.

"Genocide denial is not just the last step of a genocide, it is the
first step of the next genocide," said Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.),
who, like many others on the committee, referenced the apocryphal
story that Adolf Hitler cited the world’s neglect of the Armenians
in arguing that the mass murder of Jews would also be forgotten.

Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), who’s grown close to the Turks in his
capacity as chair of the committee’s Europe subcommittee, was the
only Jewish member of the committee to vote against the resolution.

He noted Turkey’s role in routing supplies to U.S. forces in Iraq,
as well as its lead peacekeeping role in Afghanistan and the Balkans.

"Turkey also remains a critical partner to our ally, Israel," said
Wexler, one of the few times the Jewish state was mentioned during
the hearing.

Sherman said that the Turks would get over whatever slight they
perceived, adding that political considerations should not always be
paramount: "Who would go to the floor and say, ‘We need Ramstein Air
Force base in Germany, let’s tear down the Holocaust memorial?’ "

When the clerk announced the result — upping it from 26-21 to 27-21
when U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Jewish Democrat from Arizona,
rushed in to announce her "yes" vote — Armenians in the room burst
into tears.

U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), the chairman of the committee and the
only Holocaust survivor in Congress, said that he was never prouder
to serve on the committee and announced that he would soon introduce
a resolution marking the U.S.-Turkish friendship.

Ostensibly, at least, that did little to assuage Turkish anger. Last
Thursday, Turkey recalled its ambassador in Washington, Nabi Sensoy,
for "consultations" and continued to warn that passage by the full
House would undermine its relations with the United States.

Privately, pro-Turkish lobbyists were exulting; the vote was much
closer than expected. The narrowing gap meant that the resolution
might yet fail when it goes before the full House.

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