Rep. Adam Schiff took to the house floor to present an open letter to President Obama:
I dearly hope, as do millions of Armenians descended from genocide survivors around the world, that he will take this final opportunity as President to speak plainly about the genocide. To say that the Ottoman Empire committed the crime of genocide when it sought to wipe out the Armenians, and very nearly did. That their campaign of extermination nonetheless failed. And that, above all, we will never forget and we will never be intimidated into silence.
Mr. President, there is no higher moral calling than speaking the truth in the face of genocide denial. Please, this year, add your voice to the millions who speak out for those who died in the desert, for the victims of the Armenian Genocide.