Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Hastert rejecting calls to consider recognition of Armenian genocide

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Hastert rejecting calls to consider recognition of Armenian genocide

    Hastert rejecting calls to consider recognition of Armenian genocide
    By Lisa Friedman, Washington Bureau

    dailynews.com
    Sept 28, 2004

    WASHINGTON -- Despite mounting pressure from Southern California
    lawmakers, House Speaker Dennis Hastert will continue to oppose a
    Pasadena congressman's amendment recognizing the Armenian genocide,
    his spokesman said Tuesday.

    "That amendment, in the Speaker's view, was poorly crafted and
    wouldn't help us with one of our most valuable allies in the war
    against terror," John Feehery said. "He doesn't think that this is
    a fight we should be picking right now."

    Feehery's comments came on the heels of a petition from Rep. Adam
    Schiff, D-Pasadena, asking Hastert to reconsider his position that the
    United States should not formally declare the massacre of Armenians
    in the Ottoman Empire after World War I a genocide, saying it would
    alienate Turkey, a NATO ally.

    The letter, signed by more than 60 lawmakers sympathetic to Armenian
    issues, reminded Hastert that four years ago, in order to help
    James Rogan -- a then-struggling Glendale Republican incumbent --
    the Speaker vowed to allow a vote on the Armenian genocide.

    Lawmakers also downplayed the effect such a resolution would have on
    the U.S. relationship with Turkey, noting that the European Parliament,
    the Council of Europe and several European nations have recognized
    the genocide without suffering long-term breaches with Ankara.

    "Our relationship with Turkey is important, but that relationship
    must not compel us to acquiesce in the unwillingness of Turkey to
    confront the actions of its Ottoman forebears," lawmakers wrote.

    Schiff, whose district is home to a large concentration of Armenians,
    attached an amendment to a foreign-operations funding bill earlier
    this year that would forbid Turkey from using U.S. funds to lobby
    against the genocide resolution.

    The amendment is largely symbolic because the law already prohibits
    foreign governments from using U.S. aid to lobby. But it has the
    practical effect of formally designating, for the first time, the
    killing of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 as a genocide.

    Hastert and the GOP leadership reacted swiftly to the amendment and
    insisted it be stripped from the bill. He also vowed that the central
    question of whether to declare the killings genocide would never be
    scheduled for a vote under his watch.

    Last week, the Senate passed a version of the legislation that made
    no mention of the Schiff amendment. Now House and Senate negotiators
    are working to merge the two versions, a process that will determine
    whether the genocide language will live or die.

    Schiff did not accept an early defeat regarding the fate of his
    amendment, but noted: "We're in this fight for the long haul. If we
    don't succeed in the remaining few weeks of this session, we want to
    recognize the genocide while there are still some victims left."

    Armenians estimate that more than 1.5 million died in a planned
    genocide campaign. Turkey has consistently denied the assertions,
    putting the number at 300,000 and contending that thousands of Turks
    also died in what was a multiparty conflict during the last years of
    the Ottoman Empire.

    Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 [email protected]
Working...
X