Fresno Bee, CA
Feb 21 2010
Armenian genocide resolution still alive
House committee set to vote on measure.
Posted at 10:16 PM on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010
By Michael Doyle / Bee Washington Bureau
The latest version of an Armenian genocide resolution is on track to
win House committee approval, but its long-term prospects remain
uncertain.
On March 4, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is set to vote on a
resolution declaring that "the Armenian Genocide was conceived and
carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923."
Many in the central San Joaquin Valley, and in other regions with
large Armenian-American populations, are watching closely, and in some
cases playing an active role. The House panel’s members include a
number of resolution co-sponsors, including Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno.
Advocates of the resolution say it’s important to account for the
Ottoman Empire killings and depredations that occurred during and
after World War I, when by estimates upward of 1.5 million Armenians
died.
"Genocide is not something that can simply be swept under the rug and
forgotten, and our nation cannot continue its policy of denial
regarding the Armenian genocide," Costa said.
Approval by the 45-member House Foreign Affairs Committee, though, is
a far cry from getting the diplomatically dicey resolution through the
full 435-member House of Representatives.
Currently, for instance, the resolution has only 137 House
co-sponsors, far short of the 218 needed for House approval. The last
time the issue arose, in 2007, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to
bring the resolution to the House floor until it had the requisite 218
co-sponsors.
Opponents are bringing out their big guns, warning the resolution
would interfere with good diplomatic relations. Turkish and Armenian
negotiators last year agreed to a set of protocols designed to smooth
diplomatic relations, but the respective legislatures have not yet
formally ratified them.
"That would be jeopardized by a political act of passing this
resolution," said David Saltzman, chief counsel to the Turkish
Coalition of America.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has likewise recently
denounced the resolution.
This plea of bad timing is one of the many familiar elements in the
Armenian genocide fight.
In 2007, the Bush administration successfully argued the resolution
would undermine the use of Turkish bases to resupply U.S. forces in
Iraq. In 2000, then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert killed the
resolution, citing "unusually tense" conditions in the Middle East.
High-powered lobbying is another familiar plot line.
Hastert is now registered as a lobbyist for the Turkish government.
His firm, Dickstein Shapiro, has been paid up to $45,000 a month for
its work on Turkey’s behalf, public records show. One-time House
Minority Leader Richard Gephardt is likewise a registered lobbyist for
Turkey.
Some hope the arrival of the Obama administration will shake up these
familiar faces and oft-heard arguments.
"A lot of things have changed," said Aram Hamparian, executive
director of the Armenian National Committee of America.
While they were in the Senate and campaigning, Hamparian noted,
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton all endorsed Armenian genocide recognition.
Presidents, though, often back away from their campaign-season
Armenian genocide resolution pledges. Obama avoided the term
"genocide" in his presidential Armenia proclamation in April.
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