CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE PASSES BILL 234, THE "GENOCIDE AWARENESS ACT"

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
04.06.2009 13:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The California State Senate passed Senate Bill 234,
the "Genocide Awareness Act," reported the Armenian Assembly of America
(Assembly) told PanARMENIAN.Net. The Assembly, an early proponent of
the measure introduced by State Senator Mark Wyland (R), activated
its ARAMAC grassroots network in California to encourage support and
passage of the bill.

On April 29, the Senate Education Committee voted unanimously in favor
of SB 234. During the public witness hearing, Armenian Genocide denier
Bruce Fein and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA)
testified against treating the Armenian example and parallel cases
in Cambodia and Darfur as genocide. In response to the opposition’s
testimony, State Senator Joe Simitian (D), a member of the Education
Committee, expressed his disappointment, especially given the
incontestable historical fact of the Armenian Genocide and asked,
"Why is it that genocide happens over and over and over again?…It
happens because we are unwilling to step back and confront man’s
inhumanity to man."

The truth of the Armenian Genocide, Simitian stated, "has long been
settled." State Senator Christine Kehoe (D), Chair of the Senate
Appropriations Committee, moved the bill directly to the Senate floor
for a vote, stating, "The continuing events in Darfur remind me of
the words of philosopher George Santayana who wrote: ‘Those who do
not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’ Those horrific events
only serve to raise the importance of acknowledging and learning from
past events like the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust. Making
sure that Senate Bill 234 becomes law will help make sure that the
Armenian Genocide is not forgotten for this and future generations."

"The Armenian Assembly applauds Senator Kehoe for promptly bringing
this legislation to the floor for a vote," stated Yeghig Keshishian,
the Assembly’s Western Region Director. "The Assembly would also like
to commend Senator Wyland for introducing this legislation and thereby
once again placing California in the forefront of national politics
as it pertains to human rights education and genocide prevention."

Upon successful passage in the California State Assembly, State
Senator Wyland’s "Genocide Awareness Act" would then be signed into
law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The bill requires the California Curriculum Commission to vote on the
inclusion of an oral history component related to genocides as part
of its high school curriculum, including the Armenian Genocide of
1915-1923. California pioneered new education standards by adopting
the Model Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide, which includes
the Armenian Genocide.