PELOSI PLEDGES TO SUPPORT CONGRESSIONAL ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION
Oct 25 2006
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), a long time supporter of Armenian American issues who is expected to become Speaker if the Democrats win a majority in the House this November, pledged today to support Armenian Genocide legislation next year during the 110th session of Congress.
According to the information DE FACTO received at the ANCA, in a statement released to Harut Sassounian, Publisher of the California Courier, Congresswoman Pelosi stated that: "I have supported legislation, including H.Res.316, which would properly acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. It is imperative that the United States recognize this atrocity and move to renew our commitment to eliminate genocide whenever and wherever it exists".
Sassounian's weekly column appears internationally in more than a dozen newspapers, as well as in the widely read Huffington Post.
"Nancy Pelosi's powerful words and principled actions underscore the stark difference between her and Dennis Hastert, who, during his tenure as Speaker has consistently prevented a bipartisan majority from voting in favor of U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide," said ANCA (Ho. He. Dashnaktsutyan Washington-ee Hai Tahd-ee Krasenyag) Executive Director Aram Hamparian).
Congresswoman Pelosi's statement is consistent with her past record
of energetic and principled support for U.S. recognition of the Armenian
Genocide, dating back nearly 20 years. Since her election to the House
in 1986, she has worked closely with the Bay Area Armenian National
Committee, enjoying warm relations with the Armenian American community
in the greater Bay Area.
"The principled stand of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi comes as no surprise, and we're proud that she confirmed it again today," said Bay Area ANC Chairwoman Roxanne Makasdjian.
Speaking at a Capitol Hill observance in April of 2005, the
California Congresswoman countered those who have cited Turkey's
strategic position as reason to oppose Armenian Genocide legislation,
stressing that: "First at the time of the Iron Curtain, [they cited] the
strategic location of Turkey, after that it was the Gulf War and
Turkey's strategic location . . . Turkey's strategic location is not
a license to kill."
In May of 2001, during her remarks at the ANCA's annual Capitol Hill Armenian Genocide observance, Congresswoman Pelosi noted that: "The sad thing about that tragedy is that it is a tragedy twice. Once in the course of the Genocide and secondly in the fact that we cannot get the United States to pass a resolution memorializing and acknowledging the terrible things that happened then . . . This Armenian Genocide is a challenge to the conscience of our country and the conscience of the world. We will not rest until we have recognition of it."
Speaking on the House floor in April of 2001, she reminded her colleagues that: "Our alliance with Turkey should not deter us from learning the lessons of past mistakes. If we ignore the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, we are destined to repeat those same mistakes. The horrible conflicts in Sudan, Sierra Leone and East Timor remind us that we must do more to prevent the systematic slaughter of innocent people. We must learn from the past and never forget the victims of the Armenian genocide."
In April of 1999, in a statement on the House floor, the Congresswoman stressed: "As we enter the Third Millennium of the Christian Era, it behooves us to remember. If we ignore the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, then we are destined to continue our stumblings through the long, dark tunnel of endless ethnic-cleansings, genocides, and holocausts.
Let us, then, remember to remember."
In remarks marking the Armenian Genocide on the House floor in April of 1998, she explained that: "On April 24, 1915, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire set out to annihilate the Armenian minority. Over the course of the next eight years, the Turkish government systematically murdered 1.5 million Armenians and deported 500,000. By the end of 1923, the entire Armenian population of Anatolia and Western Armenia was either murdered or deported . . . While a growing number of Americans come to understand the horror of this episode in history, the perpetrators continue their denial."
In his most recent column, Sassounian criticized the current Speaker
as someone who "not only has broken his pledge repeatedly, but has
actively blocked the Armenian Genocide resolution from being
brought to a floor vote." He stressed that, "On Nov. 7, members of the
Armenian American community should vote for all those [House]
candidates, regardless of their party affiliation, who are supportive of
Armenian issues. In the case of equally supportive candidates in a
particular race, the preference should be given to the one who is a
Democrat in order to secure a Democratic majority in the House, helping
make Congresswoman Pelosi the next Speaker, which will enable her to
schedule a long overdue vote on the Armenian Genocide resolution."
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