Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
January 12, 2009
Contact: Michael A Zachariades
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA RECALLS PRINCIPLED RECORD OF LEON PANETTA
Washington, DC – Last week, President-Elect Barack Obama officially
nominated former Clinton White House Chief of Staff and Congressman Leon
Panetta (D-CA), to serve as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency,
reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).
"During his years in Congress, Leon Panetta repeatedly expressed his
support for affirmation of the Armenian Genocide," said Assembly
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.
"Coupled with President-Elect Obama’s decision to nominate Senator
Hillary Clinton (D-NY), as Secretary of State, who is on record in
support of U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, this nomination
represents another step in restoring U.S. credibility in fighting
genocide."
Panetta represented California’s 16th (now 17th) Congressional District
from 1977 to 1993. Throughout his Congressional career, Panetta was a
strong supporter of Armenian issues and repeatedly co-sponsored
resolutions honoring an "Armenian Day of Remembrance." Panetta also made
several floor statements commemorating the anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide. In the 100th Congress, he voted in favor of H.R. 807, the
Genocide Convention Implementation Bill, which made genocide a crime
under U.S. law.
On April 29, 1992, he stated, "That infamous nationwide massacre of
Armenians was an unspeakable horror in human history too often forgotten
and ignored, and it is with a heavy sense of the lessons of history that
I join in commemorating it today… We are compelled to recall the
horrific attempt to annihilate a people by our duties both to honor the
dead and to prevent the replication of the genocide. Indeed, by acting
against hate and fear, we honor those who died so unjustly… April 24,
1915, signified the beginning of a systematic attempt by the Ottoman
regime to deport and exterminate Armenians from the Anatolian
Peninsula… It is for those victims, and it is for all oppressed
peoples today, those who have died and those who survived, that we take
time to reflect on the Armenian genocide and its implications for all of
us today."
Panetta is from Monterey, California and he received his Bachelor of
Arts degree from Santa Clara University and Juris Doctor from Santa
Clara University Law School. From 1989 to 1993, while in Congress, he
was chairman of the House Committee on the Budget.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding
and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
membership organization.
###
NR#2009-003
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
