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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), co-chairmen of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues; Adam Schiff (D-CA) and George Radanovich (R-CA), lead sponsors of the Armenian Genocide Resolution; Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Ed Royce (R-CA), senior members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), a co-sponsor of the resolution and the only Armenian-American Member of Congress, announced today that the House Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a markup next Wednesday, October 10, 2007, of the Armenian Genocide Recognition Resolution.
The seven lawmakers, all Members of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, issued the following statement today regarding the announced markup:
"We are extremely pleased and very encouraged by the decision of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to move forward with a markup of this critical legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide as the first genocide of the 20th century. We thank Chairman Lantos and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen for scheduling the hearing, as well as Speaker Pelosi for her continued support.
"This Congress' support for the Armenian Genocide Resolution sends a strong message that the U.S. government will not tolerate genocide. Our recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a vital step in helping to prevent other crimes against humanity.
“We are confident that the House Foreign Affairs Committee will pass this long-overdue legislation and will work to prevent the adoption of weakening amendments. We will continue to work to ensure that when the Resolution comes to the House floor for a vote, it will receive the overwhelming support it deserves.”
The lawmakers noted that the Resolution currently has 226 co-sponsors, more than the 218 needed to have the support of a majority of the 435 Members of the House. This amount of support makes it possible to pass the bill on the House floor, which is the next step after passage in Committee. In September 2005, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs voted by an overwhelming margin of 40-7 to pass an Armenian Genocide Resolution with the same language as the current Resolution, H. Res. 106.
The Armenian Genocide Recognition Resolution, which was introduced in Congress last January, calls on the President and the U.S. Government to properly recognize the atrocities that occurred in Armenia beginning in 1915, which resulted in 1.5 million deaths and countless victims of torture, as genocide.
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