REP. LANGEVIN SAYS IT’S “CRITICALLY IMPORTANT” FOR U.S. TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
WASHINGTON, MARCH 21, NOYAN TAPAN. 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, the Armenian Assembly of America reported.
Langevin, in a statement issued on March 17 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.