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SEN KERRY HAS 'DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF ISSUES FACING ARMENIA'
January 25, 2013 - 14:02 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a
confirmation hearing to consider the nomination of Senator John Kerry
(D-MA) to serve as the next Secretary of State.
With the hearing, which was chaired by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ),
concluded, it is widely anticipated that Senator Kerry will be
expeditiously confirmed by the Senate. Additionally, according to the
Armenian Assembly of America, questions on Armenian issues will be
submitted by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and others for Senator Kerry
to answer on the record.
"Senator Kerry is a long-time supporter of Armenian issues and a
staunch promoter of America's fundamental values in the area of human
rights and minority rights," said Assembly Executive Director Bryan
Ardouny. "Senator Kerry through his 29 years of service in the United
States Senate has a deep understanding of the issues facing Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh, and we expect that as Secretary of State that he
will remain true to his extensive record," added Ardouny.
During his tenure in the United States Senate, Kerry cosponsored
numerous resolutions on the Armenian Genocide, was instrumental in the
adoption of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which restricted
U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan until it takes "demonstrable steps to
cease all blockades against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh," supported
the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, the establishment of permanent
normal trade relations between the United States and Armenia, as well
as legislation regarding Hrant Dink.
In April of 2005, Senator Kerry, along with 31 of his colleagues sent
a letter to George W. Bush urging the president to reaffirm "the
United States record on the Armenian Genocide..."
In April of 2004, Senator Kerry released a statement on the
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, which read in part: "I join
Armenian Americans and Armenians worldwide in mourning the victims of
the Armenian Genocide and I call on governments and people everywhere
to formally recognize this tragedy. Only by learning from this dark
period of history and working to prevent future genocides can we truly
honor the memories of those Armenians who suffered so unjustly."
In addition, in January of 2004, Senator Kerry urged President George
W. Bush to call upon Turkey to comply with the Administration's
long-standing position "that in order to restore economic, political
and cultural links with Armenia, Turkey should immediately lift its
ongoing blockade of Armenia."
In April of 1996, Senator Kerry joined with 21 of his colleagues in
sending a letter to President Bill Clinton, which read in part: "the
Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire were subjected to a ruthless,
systematic and well-organized policy of deportation, confiscation of
property, slave labor, denial of basic rights and, ultimately,
murder...The world recognized at the time that a crime against
humanity had been committed. The United States condemned the brutal
treatment of the Armenians and rendered humanitarian assistance to
many of the survivors in the largest relief effort ever organized by
this country."
In a 1993 April 21st floor statement, Senator Kerry stated: "Elie
Wiesel, chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Council, has said that Adolf
Hitler had the Armenian example very much in mind when conceiving his
own sick plan for exterminating the Jews. Hitler was confident that no
one would care: 'Who, after all, remembers the Armenians,' he asked.
Sadly, the answer to that question in Hitler's day was silence. But
the answer today is we do; we remember the Armenians. We remember both
those who survived and those who perished and we will not allow the
truth of their suffering to be obscured by distortions of history or
the passage of time."
In December of 1992, Senator Kerry sent a letter to then-Secretary of
State Lawrence Eagleburger urging that "high priority be given to
providing emergency humanitarian and economic aid to the Republic of
Armenia...." as "the people of Armenia are facing a grim winter as a
result of the continued economic blockade imposed by neighboring
Azerbaijan..."
In an April 1991 floor statement, Senator Kerry said in part:
"Ignoring the Armenian Genocide, extraordinary evidence of man's
capacity for inhumanity, can open a Pandora's box of selective
morality a virtual guarantee that similar tragedy will touch other
people in the future. Selective morality only leads to selective
genocide. We must never ignore the persecution and slaughter of any
people..." and make "a solemn vow that we must prevent genocide from
ever happening again, to anyone, anywhere, anytime."
In February 1990, Senator Kerry expressed his support for enactment of
S.J.Res. 212, designating April 24, 1990 as a "National Day of
Remembrance of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
of 1915-1923." Kerry specifically stated that it "is imperative for us
to be guided by our collective consciences, rather than a sense of
political expediency...President Bush stated in 1988 that 'the
American people, our government and certainly the Bush administration
will never allow political pressure to prevent our denunciation of
crimes against humanity....I would join Congress in commemorating the
victims.'"
Also in February of 1990, Senator Kerry joined a bipartisan group of
Senators in writing to then Secretary of Defense, Richard Cheney to
express concern "about the pogroms and evacuation of Armenians from
Azerbaijan."
January 25, 2013 - 14:02 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a
confirmation hearing to consider the nomination of Senator John Kerry
(D-MA) to serve as the next Secretary of State.
With the hearing, which was chaired by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ),
concluded, it is widely anticipated that Senator Kerry will be
expeditiously confirmed by the Senate. Additionally, according to the
Armenian Assembly of America, questions on Armenian issues will be
submitted by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and others for Senator Kerry
to answer on the record.
"Senator Kerry is a long-time supporter of Armenian issues and a
staunch promoter of America's fundamental values in the area of human
rights and minority rights," said Assembly Executive Director Bryan
Ardouny. "Senator Kerry through his 29 years of service in the United
States Senate has a deep understanding of the issues facing Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh, and we expect that as Secretary of State that he
will remain true to his extensive record," added Ardouny.
During his tenure in the United States Senate, Kerry cosponsored
numerous resolutions on the Armenian Genocide, was instrumental in the
adoption of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which restricted
U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan until it takes "demonstrable steps to
cease all blockades against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh," supported
the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, the establishment of permanent
normal trade relations between the United States and Armenia, as well
as legislation regarding Hrant Dink.
In April of 2005, Senator Kerry, along with 31 of his colleagues sent
a letter to George W. Bush urging the president to reaffirm "the
United States record on the Armenian Genocide..."
In April of 2004, Senator Kerry released a statement on the
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, which read in part: "I join
Armenian Americans and Armenians worldwide in mourning the victims of
the Armenian Genocide and I call on governments and people everywhere
to formally recognize this tragedy. Only by learning from this dark
period of history and working to prevent future genocides can we truly
honor the memories of those Armenians who suffered so unjustly."
In addition, in January of 2004, Senator Kerry urged President George
W. Bush to call upon Turkey to comply with the Administration's
long-standing position "that in order to restore economic, political
and cultural links with Armenia, Turkey should immediately lift its
ongoing blockade of Armenia."
In April of 1996, Senator Kerry joined with 21 of his colleagues in
sending a letter to President Bill Clinton, which read in part: "the
Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire were subjected to a ruthless,
systematic and well-organized policy of deportation, confiscation of
property, slave labor, denial of basic rights and, ultimately,
murder...The world recognized at the time that a crime against
humanity had been committed. The United States condemned the brutal
treatment of the Armenians and rendered humanitarian assistance to
many of the survivors in the largest relief effort ever organized by
this country."
In a 1993 April 21st floor statement, Senator Kerry stated: "Elie
Wiesel, chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Council, has said that Adolf
Hitler had the Armenian example very much in mind when conceiving his
own sick plan for exterminating the Jews. Hitler was confident that no
one would care: 'Who, after all, remembers the Armenians,' he asked.
Sadly, the answer to that question in Hitler's day was silence. But
the answer today is we do; we remember the Armenians. We remember both
those who survived and those who perished and we will not allow the
truth of their suffering to be obscured by distortions of history or
the passage of time."
In December of 1992, Senator Kerry sent a letter to then-Secretary of
State Lawrence Eagleburger urging that "high priority be given to
providing emergency humanitarian and economic aid to the Republic of
Armenia...." as "the people of Armenia are facing a grim winter as a
result of the continued economic blockade imposed by neighboring
Azerbaijan..."
In an April 1991 floor statement, Senator Kerry said in part:
"Ignoring the Armenian Genocide, extraordinary evidence of man's
capacity for inhumanity, can open a Pandora's box of selective
morality a virtual guarantee that similar tragedy will touch other
people in the future. Selective morality only leads to selective
genocide. We must never ignore the persecution and slaughter of any
people..." and make "a solemn vow that we must prevent genocide from
ever happening again, to anyone, anywhere, anytime."
In February 1990, Senator Kerry expressed his support for enactment of
S.J.Res. 212, designating April 24, 1990 as a "National Day of
Remembrance of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
of 1915-1923." Kerry specifically stated that it "is imperative for us
to be guided by our collective consciences, rather than a sense of
political expediency...President Bush stated in 1988 that 'the
American people, our government and certainly the Bush administration
will never allow political pressure to prevent our denunciation of
crimes against humanity....I would join Congress in commemorating the
victims.'"
Also in February of 1990, Senator Kerry joined a bipartisan group of
Senators in writing to then Secretary of Defense, Richard Cheney to
express concern "about the pogroms and evacuation of Armenians from
Azerbaijan."