WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) welcomed three new additions this week to the growing coalition of organizations supporting legislation, S.Res.307, commemorating the U.S. government’s full participation in the Genocide Convention.

“We welcome the Diocese, the AGBU and the Armenian Assembly to this historic effort and look forward to working with all the organizations in this growing coalition to reaffirm the values and goals of the Genocide Convention,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “As Armenian Americans, we hold a solemn obligation to take the lead – to be out front – in working with the U.S. Congress and the Administration in reinforcing the simple truth that we must learn the lessons of the Armenian Genocide – and all genocides that followed – if we are to work effectively in preventing future genocides.”

The resolution, introduced in July of this year, has been cosponsored by 16 Senators, including: George Allen (R-VA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), John Ensign (D-NV), Russell Feingold (D-WI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Carl Levin (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Robert Torricelli (D-NJ), and Paul Wellstone (D-MN).

To date, over 35 organizations representing a broad spectrum of the Armenian American community as well as key civil rights and grassroots organizations have joined the coalition in support of S.Res.307. Earlier this week America’s leading civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the largest Italian American organization, the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA) added their voices to this campaign. Among the early supporters of the legislation were key Greek American and Arab American organizations, including the American Hellenic Institute and the Arab American Institute.

Introduced by Senator Robert Torricelli (D-NJ), S.Res.307 commemorates the adoption by Congress and the signing into law by President Reagan in 1988 of legislation implementing the Genocide Convention. This step, taken two years after the formal ratification of the Convention by the U.S. Senate in 1986, marked the official participation of the United States in this landmark international treaty. The resolution specifically mentions the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, and the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides, and stresses that the lessons of these atrocities should be used to help prevent future genocides.