Companies Lobby (quietly) on Armenia Genocide Bill

The New York Times
June 13, 2009

By The Associated Press

Corporate America typically hires lobbyists to pressure Congress on
taxes and trade rules. But in an unusual — some say risky — move,
five military contractors and an energy company have stepped into a
fight over whether the U.S. should label Turkey’s slaughter of a
million Armenians nearly a century ago as genocide.

The six companies have strong ties to Turkey, a key strategic ally of
the U.S. in Mideast peace efforts and the fight against
terrorism. None would state their position on the House resolution,
but industry analysts and others said they likely lobbied against the
measure to show support for Turkey, an important market for weapons
and industrial products.

”They don’t want to be seen opposing a resolution that has a very
evident human rights element,” said Rouben Adalian, director of the
Armenian National Institute, a Washington research organization. ”It
would put them on the side of denying history and denying genocide.”

BAE Systems Inc., Goodrich Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., Raytheon
Co., United Technologies Corp. and energy producer Chevron Corp. spent
$14 million to lobby Congress in the first quarter of this
year. Besides the genocide resolution, the companies lobbied on
Pentagon spending, climate change, taxes and more.

United Technologies, which sells Sikorsky helicopters to Turkey, says
it provided information to lawmakers ”that helped round out their
understanding of the international trade and national security
interests involved.”

But businesses lobbying against the resolution are not being ”good
corporate citizens,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., its lead
sponsor.

Lobbying on human rights issues comes with risks, said Gerry Keim,
associate dean at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of
Business. Several companies halted their efforts opposing restrictions
on white minority-ruled South Africa in the 1980s when anti-apartheid
activists applied p outh Africa. Then they were concerned about
markets here,” Keim said.

Other analysts say any public backlash against companies lobbying on
the Armenia genocide resolution would be minimal because the firms
serve governments, not individual consumers who could boycott their
products.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has not taken up the resolution
and the Senate does not have a version. A spokeswoman for the House
committee said its chairman has not decided when the resolution — or
other pending bills — will be taken up as the House considers
legislation on Pakistan, State Department funding and other matters.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million mostly Christian Armenians
were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Turkey
denies that the deaths were genocide, saying the number of casualties
is inflated and was the consequence of civil war and unrest.

Turkey’s embassy in Washington did not return calls and e-mails
seeking comment.

President Barack Obama, before visiting a World War II-era
concentration camp in Germany earlier this month, said the world has
an obligation to stop genocide, even when it’s inconvenient. His
administration is working to end the genocide in the Darfur region of
Sudan, he said.

While running for president, Obama promised to ”recognize the
Armenian Genocide” once in office, but he avoided the term during a
speech in Turkey in April. Putting the U.S. on record that the
killings of Armenians 94 years ago was genocide gives credibility to
the drive for international support to stop killings in Sudan, Schiff
said.

But pressure on the six companies to avoid offending Turkey is
intense.

Among the ventures between U.S. businesses and Turkey are a $3 billion
contract from Northrop to a Turkish company to be a supplier for
fighter jets. Goodrich Corp. and a Turkish firm agreed to a joint
venture for maintenance and repair work on engine components. BAE
Systems and a Turkish company jointly market and supply armored
vehicles to the Turkish armed forces Raytheon has agreed to sell to
Turkey Stinger missile launcher systems valued at $34 million and is
working to sell its missile defense systems.

Chevron said it lobbies on a range of interests, ”including
international issues that fall outside of a narrow energy policy
focus.”

Representatives of the U.S. subsidiary of London-based BAE Systems PLC
and Northrop referred questions to the Aerospace Industries
Association. The trade group defended Turkey as a key U.S. ally and
cited ”large and growing commercial ties” between the two nations.

Raytheon and Goodrich did not respond to requests for comment.

Andrew Kzirian, executive director of the Armenian National
Committee’s western region in Glendale, Calif., said backers of the
resolution, which has been considered before, will not quit if it
fails again.

”If you don’t call it out and call it for what it is, you have
Darfur,” he said.

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