DEMOCRATS SPLIT ON GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
By Jim Snyder
The Hill, DC
Oct 16 2007
Democrats are split on the value of bringing a controversial Armenian
genocide resolution to a floor vote.
Five House Democrats plan to hold a news conference Wednesday to urge
their leadership not to bring the resolution to the floor, although
the measure passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week with
strong Democratic support.
Reps. Alcee Hastings of Florida, John Murtha of Pennsylvania, Robert
Wexler of Florida and Steve Cohen and John Tanner, both of Tennessee,
will participate in the news conference. They plan to urge House
leadership to "reconsider its decision" to bring the Armenian genocide
resolution to the floor.
The non-binding resolution would require the president to call the
killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians between the years 1915
and 1923 "genocide."
Turkish officials have said the resolution will harm relations between
Turkey and the United States. Turkey acknowledges hundreds of thousands
of Armenians died as modern Turkey grew out of the crumbling Ottoman
Empire, but Turkish officials contend the killings were part of a
civil war and that atrocities were committed on both sides.
Top administration officials have warned Congress that Turkey could
respond to the resolution’s passage by blocking access to an airbase
critical to the supply of troops in Iraq.
Despite the pushback, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has
indicated she would bring the controversial resolution to the floor.
California is home to a significant number of Armenian-Americans,
including some who came to the United States after fleeing the World
War I-era upheaval.
The House has passed similar resolutions in past decades.
President Ronald Reagan also once referred to what happened to
Armenians as they were being pushed out of what became eastern Turkey
as genocide. During his presidency, however, Bill Clinton also worked
to block an Armenian genocide resolution from passing the House.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
