Armenian National Committee of America
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PRESS RELEASE
January 12, 2007
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
(202) 775-1918
REPRESENTATIVES PALLONE AND WEINER SPEAK OUT
AGAINST THE HOAGLAND NOMINATION
— Oppose Sending an Armenian Genocide Denier
as the Next U.S. Ambassador to Armenia
WASHINGTON, DC – Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
and New York Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) today sharply
criticized the White House’s decision to resubmit the nomination of
Richard Hoagland as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, in the face of
bipartisan Congressional opposition and Armenian American outrage
over his denial of the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA).
Congressman Pallone’s remarks on the House floor and Congressman
Weiner’s letter to President Bush come a day after Senator Bob
Menendez (D-NJ) announced that he has, once again, placed a "hold"
blocking the Hoagland nomination’s approval by the U.S. Senate.
Last year, concerns regarding the Hoagland nomination and the
firing of former Ambassador John Evans over his public recognition
of the Armenian Genocide were raised by more than half of the
members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and over sixty
U.S. Representatives.
In a January 11th letter, Congressman Weiner wrote to the President
that he was "deeply disappointed that you chose to re-nominate
Richard Hoagland this week to serve as United States Ambassador to
Armenia, despite the fact that 97 percent of Armenian Americans
oppose the Hoagland nomination. His denial of the Armenian
Genocide makes him unfit to represent American interests in
Yerevan."
The Empire State legislator, a leading advocate of Armenian
American issues, added that, "your Administration has repeatedly
failed to recognize the Genocide. Ambassador-designate Hoagland
has taken a step back even from your regrettable policy by actively
denying the Genocide. In a July 14, 2006 [response] to Senator
Barbara Boxer, Mr. Hoagland indicated that the Armenian Genocide
does not meet the State Department’s definition because the Ottoman
Turks did not express a ‘specific intent to destroy, in whole or in
substantial part, the group as such.’"
Commenting on the Hoagland re-nomination coming on the heels of the
controversial recall of the former Ambassador to Armenia, John
Evans, Congressman Weiner noted that this action "raises serious
questions about this Administration’s support of the Armenian
community. Ambassador Evans’ only offense was correctly referring
to the Genocide as ‘the first genocide of the 20th Century.’ This
is an admirable admission of the painfully obvious, not a firing
offense. Replacing Ambassador Evans with a Genocide denier would
do serious harm, especially after many Members of the House and
Senate opposed Mr. Hoagland’s original nomination last August. It
is due time that the Administration reverse its policy and
recognize the Armenian Genocide."
In a January 12th speech delivered on the floor of the House of
Representatives, Congressman Pallone voiced his opposition to the
Hoagland nomination and expressed his thanks to his New Jersey
colleague, Senator Bob Menendez, for blocking Hoagland’s approval
by the Senate.
The New Jersey Congressman noted his surprise that the President
had resubmitted Hoagland as a candidate for this post, after the
Senate blocked his initial nomination last year during the recently
concluded 109th Congress. He noted that, "there is no way, in my
opinion, that Mr. Hoagland is going to be confirmed because of his
policy, and because of the fact that he continues to articulate a
policy of denial… It would make no sense to send an Ambassador
from this country to Armenia who cannot articulate the genocide.
So I simply ask that this nomination be opposed again in the Senate
and that the Bush Administration withdraw the nomination."
In remarks addressed to his House colleagues and the C-SPAN
audience, Congressman Pallone stressed that, "the Bush
Administration continues to play word games by not calling evil by
its proper name in this case. Instead they refer to the mass
killings of 1.5 million Armenians as tragic events. That term
should not be substituted for genocide. The two words are simply
not synonymous. There are historical documents that show that the
genocide cannot be refuted but somehow the Bush Administration
continues to ignore the truth in fear of offending the Turkish
government." He added that, "I don’t think that our nation’s
response to genocide should be denigrated to a level acceptable to
the Turkish government and it’s about time that this Administration
started dictating a policy for Americans, not for a foreign
government like Turkey. This lack of honesty, in my opinion, by
the Bush Administration is simply not acceptable. The American
people and this Congress deserve a full and truthful account of the
role of the Turkish government in denying the Armenian genocide."