ANCA CONTINUES TO CALL FOR U.S. HOUSE VOTE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
December 18, 2010WASHINGTON, DC – Armenian American and anti-genocide activists across the United States continue to mobilize in support of a possible vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res.252, in the final days of the Congressional session, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“We continue to look to the House Democratic leadership to schedule a vote allowing a bipartisan majority to adopt the Armenian Genocide Resolution, honoring the victims of this crime and to paying tribute to the proud legacy of America’s humanitarian response to this atrocity,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “It’s long past time for America to reject Turkey’s ‘gag rule’ on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.”
Earlier today, Majority Leader Hoyer announced that the House is set to adjourn for the week on Friday evening, returning on Tuesday, December 21st to complete the legislative business for the 111th Congress. Thousands of anti-Genocide activists across the U.S. have been contacting Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer and their Congressional Representatives, in support of Congress passing this human rights measure. Last week, Armenian American celebrities Kim Kardashian and Serge Tankian urged millions of their Twitter, Facebook and website followers to bring H.Res.252 to the Floor.
House Resolution 252, introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and spearheaded by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) along with bipartisan base of Congressional leaders from across the U.S. including incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), incoming House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Foreign Affairs Committee Member Ed Royce (R-CA). The resolution currently has 149 cosponsors.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee adopted the measure in March, 2010. Similar legislation was adopted at the committee level in the U.S. House in 2000, 2005, and 2007.
The Armenian Genocide Resolution “calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the failure to realize a just resolution.” It goes on to urge the President, in his “annual message commemorating the Armenian Genocide issued on or about April 24, to accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide and to recall the proud history of United States intervention in opposition to the Armenian Genocide.”