GENOCIDE VOTE WAS PURE POLITICS, SAYS TURKEY CAUCUS CO-CHAIR
Fulya Ozerkan

Hurriyet
March 17 2010
Turkey

A recent United States House Panel vote on Armenian genocide claims
was pure politics, according to a Republican congresswoman who was
convinced by the panel’s chairman that the matter would not proceed
any further.

"What happened was purely California politics. It was all to help some
members from California who stayed out of this issue," said Virginia
Foxx on Tuesday.

Foxx is also the co-chair of the Turkey Caucus in the U.S. Congress.

Her remarks came during a meeting with Turkish and U.S. youths
who came together under a project led by the Atlantic Council,
a Washington-based think tank.

"It will not go anywhere. They absolutely will not bring it to the
floor for a vote," said the veteran politician who has established
herself as a leader in the House of Representatives.

Her conviction that the resolution would not reach a full House floor
vote comes from her meeting with U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee
Chairman Howard Berman.

The U.S. panel passed the measure 23-22 on March 4. The Turkish
government has recalled its ambassador in protest and declared the
whole process a parody.

‘Misuse’ in the process

Foxx wondered if the voting process had actually been conducted
appropriately. "We questioned the process and were told it is up to
the chairman to decide if there is a quorum present. We just wanted
to go on the record saying we thought that the process was wrong."

Although little thought is typically paid to procedure, she said,
"A lot of attention is being paid to the process this year because
of the kind of misuse of the process that is occurring."

Sharing what she witnessed during the vote, Foxx said: "The committees
are always tilted in the majorities’ favor whether it is Democrat or
Republican and the resolution passed by one vote. I actually saw the
speaker talking to [Democratic Congressman] Gene Green on the floor."

Foxx said Green left the committee because of his reluctance to vote
on the measure.

"It was my understanding that Green did not want to take a position
on the issue but that he had his arms twisted literally and went back
to the committee and voted on it," she said. "There was obviously
a lot of political pressure brought on them to do that. Probably it
has a lot to do with money-raising because the Armenians raise a lot
of money for them."

‘I believe the Turks who say it wasn’t genocide’

While making her case, Foxx said she personally believed the Turkish
argument that there was no genocide; nevertheless, she said it was
an issue for Turks and Armenians to resolve, not Americans.

"It is my position that we don’t know what happened in those days
and letting the Turks and Armenians work it out is the right way,"
she said.