CALIFORNIA GENOCIDE RESOLUTION UNANIMOUSLY PASSED BY ASSEMBLY

Asbarez
rticle=41807_4/23/2009_1
Thursday, April 23, 2009

Vote follows passionate speeches by both parties

SACRAMENTO ‘s Assistant Majority Leader Paul Krekorian’s resolution
to commemorate the 94th anniversary of the Armenian genocide was
unanimously passed by the Assembly today. The measure sailed through
with broad, bipartisan support and featured impassioned pleas from
multiple members of the Assembly, from both parties, who voted for
the measure.

"Today, we stood up for truth and justice; not just in memory of the
Armenian genocide, but for all modern-day horrors that have blackened
this earth since 1915," Assemblyman Paul Krekorian said. "This
resolution gives all of us an opportunity to re-commit ourselves to
building a society free of bigotry and inhumanity. And if we can do
that, we will be able to say at long last, truthfully and finally,
%u218Never again.’"

AJR 14 will designate April 24, 2009, as a "California Day of
Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923." Preceding the
73-0 vote, a number of Democratic and Republican speakers called on
the Assembly to pass the resolution, noting that supporting AJR 14
was less a vote for Armenian genocide remembrance than a call for
justice everywhere.

Before that, the Very Reverend Father Baret Yeretzian of the Western
Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America read the morning’s
prayer and a trio of musicians called "The Winds of Passion" played
two stirring songs in tribute to the memory of 1.5 million Armenians
who perished from 1915-23.

Krekorian is also the author of the Justice for Genocide Victims Act,
AB 961, which would require California companies to certify that they
do not hold wrongfully obtained assets from a modern-day genocide
victim and bars companies from doing business with California if they
cannot submit that certification.