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OVER 200 HOUSE AND SENATE MEMBERS URGE PRESIDENT BUSH TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE GENOCIDE
Washington, DC - The Armenian Assembly of America credited a unified
community effort as 178 House Members today sent a letter urging
President Bush to properly acknowledge the attempted annihilation of
the Armenian people as Genocide while the Senate readied a letter with
31 signatures at press time.
The congressional letters were initiated by Senators John Ensign
(R-NV) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Congressional Caucus on Armenian
Issues Caucus Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone,
Jr. (D-NJ) respectively.
"As a world leader, it is important that the United States reaffirm
the incontestable facts of history witnessed and reported by
U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau and acknowledged by others including
President Ronald Reagan," said Ensign and Durbin. "Denial of the
Armenian Genocide diminishes the value we place on human life and the
principles of liberty on which this country is founded."
"The Armenian Genocide is incontrovertible, of which the
U.S. Archives is replete with thousands of pages documenting this
horrific crime," said Co-Chairs Knollenberg and
Pallone. "The President has employed a textbook definition of genocide
to describe the events that occurred from 1915-1923, but a full and
irrevocable U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide is necessary to
prevent such crimes from happening in the future."
"We thank Senators Ensign and Durbin and Congressmen Knollenberg and
Pallone for circulating these critical initiatives requesting that the
President reaffirm the Armenian Genocide," said Board of Trustees
Chairman Hirair Hovnanian. "We also thank the Armenian-American
community for their unified effort in urging their Congressmen to
support Genocide reaffirmation in the face of Turkey's ongoing denial
campaign."
In March, hundreds of activists from across the country attended the
Assembly's pan-Armenian Conference where they urged lawmakers to sign
on to the letters during meetings on Capitol Hill. In his
commemorative statement last year, President Bush did not use the term
"Armenian Genocide," and instead offered the textbook definition of
this crime against humanity.
"On Armenian Remembrance Day, we remember the forced exile and mass
killings of as many as 1.5 million Armenians during the last days of
the Ottoman Empire," the President said in part.
The Assembly looks forward to the President's annual April 24
statement and plans to report on his speech to the community.
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#2006-037
Editor's Note: The complete list of U.S. Senators and Representatives
who have signed their names to the congressional letters is provided
below.
Co-signers to the Senate letter (at press time):
Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO)
Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
Sen. George Allen (R-VA)
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI)
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Elizabeth Dole (D-NC)
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)
Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO)
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Sen. John Sununu (R-NH)
Co-signers to the House letter:
Neil Abercrombie (D-HI)
Gary Ackerman (D-NY)
Tom Allen (D-ME)
Rob Andrews (D-NJ)
Joe Baca (D-CA)
Brian Baird (D-WA)
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Charles Bass (R-NH)
Melissa Bean (D-IL)
Bob Beauprez (R-CO)
Xavier Becerra (D-CA)
Shelley Berkley (D-NV)
Howard Berman (D-CA)
Mike Bilirakis (R-FL)
Tim Bishop (D-NY)
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)
Mary Bono (R-CA)
Jeb Bradley (R-NH)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Dave Camp (R-MI)
Lois Capps (D-CA)
Michael Capuano (D-MA)
Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
William Lacy Clay (D-MO)
Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
John Conyers (D-MI)
Jim Costa (D-CA)
Jerry Costello (D-IL)
Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
Danny Davis (D-IL)
Susan Davis (D-CA)
William Delahunt (D-MA)
Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Diana DeGette (D-CO)
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Charles Dent (R-PA)
Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
John Dingell (D-MI)
Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
John Doolittle (R-CA)
Mike Doyle (D-PA)
David Dreier (R-CA)
Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
Elliot Engel (D-NY)
Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
Lane Evans (D-IL)
Chaka Fattah (D-PA)
Michael Ferguson (R-NJ)
Bob Filner (D-CA)
Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
Mark Foley (R-FL)
Vito Fossella (R-NY)
Barney Frank (D-MA)
Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)
Scott Garrett (R-NJ)
Jim Gibbons (R-NV)
Charles Gonzalez (D-TX)
Al Green (D-TX)
Gene Green (D-TX)
Mark Green (R-WI)
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)
Stephanie Herseth (D-SD)
Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)
Rush Holt (D-NJ)
Mike Honda (D-CA)
Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Steve Israel (D-NY)
Darrell Issa (R-CA)
Jesse Jackson (D-IL)
Nancy Johnson (R-CT)
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Sue Kelly (R-NY)
Mark Kennedy (R-MN)
Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
Dale Kildee (D-MI)
Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL)
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI)
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Randy Kuhl (R-NY)
Jim Langevin (D-RI)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
John Larson (D-CT)
Sander Levin (D-MI)
John Lewis (D-GA)
Daniel Lipinski (D-IL)
Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Nita Lowey (D-NY)
Dan Lungren (R-CA)
Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
Ed Markey (D-MA)
Doris Matsui (D-CA)
Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
Betty McCollum (D-MN)
Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI)
Jim McDermott (D-WA)
James McGovern (D-MA)
John McHugh (R-NY)
Buck McKeon (R-CA)
Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)
Cathy McMorris (R-WA)
Michael McNulty (D-NY)
Marty Meehan (D-MA)
Michael Michaud (D-ME)
Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)
Candice Miller (R-MI)
Gwen Moore (D-WI)
James Moran (D-VA)
Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)
Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
Richard Neal (D-MA)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
Devin Nunes (R-CA)
John Olver (D-MA)
C.L. Butch Otter (R-ID)
Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)
Donald Payne (D-NJ)
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Collin Peterson (D-MN)
Richard Pombo (R-CA)
Jon Porter (R-NV)
George Radanovich (R-CA)
Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Mike Rogers (R-MI)
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Mike Ross (D-AR)
Steven Rothman (D-NJ)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Ed Royce (R-CA)
Bobby Rush (D-IL)
Paul Ryan (R-WI)
John Salazar (D-CO)
Linda Sanchez (D-CA)
Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)
Bernard Sanders (I-VT)
Jim Saxton (R-NJ)
Jan Schakowksy (D-IL)
Adam Schiff (D-CA)
David Scott (D-GA)
Allyson Schwartz (D-PA)
Joe Schwarz (R-MI)
E. Clay Shaw (R-FL)
Christopher Shays (R-CT)
Brad Sherman (D-CA)
John Shimkus (R-IL)
Rob Simmons (R-CT)
Chris Smith (R-NJ)
Hilda Solis (D-CA)
Mark Souder (R-IN)
Pete Stark (D-CA)
Ted Strickland (D-OH)
John Sweeney (R-NY)
Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)
Mike Thompson (D-CA)
John Tierney (D-MA)
Edolphus Towns (D-NY)
Mark Udall (D-CO)
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)
Peter Visclosky (D-IN)
Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Diane Watson (D-CA)
Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
Curt Weldon (R-PA)
Jerry Weller (R-IL)
Joe Wilson (R-SC)
Frank Wolf (R-VA)
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
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