Armenian Assembly of America
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PRESS RELEASE
March 18, 2005
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
Email: [email protected]
REP. LANGEVIN SAYS IT’S “CRITICALLY IMPORTANT” FOR U.S. TO RECOGNIZE
THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Washington, DC – Representative James Langevin (D-RI), a well-known
champion of Armenian issues, is urging President Bush to follow the
example of other leading U.S. public officials and formally recognize
the Armenian Genocide in his statement of remembrance next month.
Langevin, in a statement issued yesterday to Congress, urged Bush to
properly label the atrocities as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans
so candidly did during his meetings with Armenian-Americans throughout
the U.S. last month. During those public exchanges, Evans declared
that “the Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the twentieth
century.”
“By employing this term, the Ambassador is building on previously made
statements by Presidents Regan and Bush, as well as the repeated
declarations of numerous world-renowned scholars,” Langevin said. “In
effect, Evans has done nothing more than succinctly name the
conclusions enunciated by those before him.”
Langevin, a member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues,
noted that Evans’ remarks correspond with the signed statements of
over 120 renowned Holocaust and Genocide scholars on the
“incontestable fact of the Armenian Genocide,” and that of the
International Center for Transitional Justice on the use of the term
Armenian Genocide, which states that: “The Events, viewed
collectively, can thus be said to include all of the elements of the
crime of genocide as defined in the Convention, and legal scholars as
well as historians, politicians, journalists and other people would be
justified in continuing to so describe them.”
Langevin also said that the ability of Armenians to survive in the
face of repression is a testament to their will to survive.
“Therefore, it is critically important that the United States speak
with one voice in condemning the horrors committed against the
Armenians,” he concluded.
In other news, Langevin this week signed his support to a
congressional letter to President Bush, asking that he acknowledge
this crime against humanity. The letter, initiated by Armenian Caucus
Co-Chairmen Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ),
currently has the backing of 75 Members of the House of
Representatives.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.
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NR#2005-030
Photograph available on the Assembly Web site at the following link:
Caption: Congressman James R. Langevin (D-RI)
Editor’s Note: Attached is the full text of Congressman Langevin’s
remarks to Members of the House of Representatives.
The Honorable James R. Langevin
Statement on Recognizing the Armenian Genocide
March 17, 2005
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John
Evans for properly labeling the atrocities committed by the Ottoman
Empire against the Armenians as genocide and to urge the President to
follow his example and accurately characterize this crime against
humanity in his commemorative statement next month.
Ambassador Evans recently completed his first U.S. visit to major
Armenian-American communities to share his initial impressions of
Armenia and our programs there. During his public exchanges with
Armenian-American communities throughout the United States late last
month, Ambassador Evans declared that “the Armenian Genocide was the
first genocide of the twentieth century.”
By employing this term, the Ambassador is building on previous
statements by Presidents Reagan and Bush, as well as the repeated
declarations of numerous world-renowned scholars. In effect, Evans
has done nothing more than succinctly name the conclusions enunciated
by those before him.
In 1981, President Reagan issued a presidential proclamation that said
in part: “like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the
genocide of the Cambodians which followed it – and like too many other
persecutions of too many other people – the lessons of the Holocaust
must never be forgotten…” President Bush, himself, has invoked the
textbook definition of genocide in his preceding April 24th statements
by using the expressions “annihilation” and “forced exile and murder”
to characterize this example of man’s inhumanity to man.
Furthermore, Evans’ remarks correspond with the signed statement in
2000 by one hundred and twenty-six Genocide and Holocaust scholars
affirming that the World War I Armenian Genocide is an incontestable
historical fact and accordingly urging the governments of Western
democracies to likewise recognize it as such. The petitioners, among
whom is Nobel Laureate for Peace Elie Wiesel, also asked the Western
Democracies to urge the Government and Parliament of Turkey to finally
come to terms with a dark chapter of Ottoman-Turkish history and to
recognize the Armenian Genocide.
The Ambassador’s declarations also conform to the summary conclusions
of the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) when it
facilitated an independent legal study on the applicability of the
1948 Genocide Convention to events that occurred during the early
twentieth century. The ICTJ report stated that “the Events, viewed
collectively, can thus be said to include all of the elements of the
crime of genocide as defined in the Convention, and legal scholars as
well as historians, politicians, journalists and other people would be
justified in continuing to so describe them.”
The Armenian people’s ability to survive in the face of the repression
carried out against them stands as a monument to their endurance and
will to live. Therefore, it is critically important that the United
States speak with one voice in condemning the horrors committed
against the Armenians. Only by working to preserve the truth about
the Armenian Genocide can we hope to spare future generations from the
horrors of the past.
In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I join the Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs,
Representatives Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg, in applauding the
statements of Ambassador Evans and others, and in urging the President
to reaffirm the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide.
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