CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE APPROVES JUNE 3 "GENOCIDE AWARENESS ACT" BILL 234

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 4, 2009
YEREVAN

California State Senate passed June 3 Senate Bill 234, the "Genocide
Awareness Act." It aims at the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide of
1915-1923 as part of its high school curriculum.

On April 29, the Senate Education Committee voted unanimously in
favor of the Senate Bill 234.

An official from the Armenian Assembly of America told Armenpress
that 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.

"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 has long been
settled," Simitian stated.

State Democrat Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair of the Senate
Appropriations Committee, moved the bill directly to for a vote,
stating that the continuing events in Darfur remind him 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. 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 Senator underscored.

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 Armenian Genocide
of 1915-1923 as part of its high school curriculum.