Schiff, Bilirakis Introduce Bipartisan Resolution to Recognize Armenian Genocide

Today, U.S. Representatives Adam Schiff (CA-28) and Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) introduced legislation to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The Resolution recognizes the genocide against the Armenian people by the Ottoman Empire, rejects efforts to enlist the U.S. Government in denial of genocide, and encourages education about the Armenian Genocide, as well as the unprecedented relief efforts undertaken by the United States in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide.

"Over 100 years ago, the Ottoman Empire undertook a brutal campaign of murder, rape, and displacement against the Armenian people that took the lives of 1.5 million men, women, and children in the first genocide of the 20th century," said Rep. Schiff. "Genocide is not a relic of the past, but an ever present threat. Its denial is not only a continuing injury to the survivors, but makes its repetition against another people more likely. It is therefore all the more pressing that the Congress recognize the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide and make clear that we will never be an accomplice to denial."

"Genocide must not be denied. It must be acknowledged for what it is--a scourge on humanity. Official recognition of the Armenian Genocide would represent a courageous new chapter in American foreign policy. With the bold leadership of the current Administration, it is time for the United States to take a stand against Turkish genocide denial," said Rep. Bilirakis.

"This resolution highlights a proud chapter in American history, where, thanks to America's unprecedented humanitarian intervention, thousands and thousands of survivors of the Armenian Genocide were saved in what U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau described as a "campaign of race extermination' and what Major General James G. Harbord - who served as General John J. Pershing's Chief of Staff during World War I and led an American Military Mission to Armenia - reported from the USS Martha Washington that the "[m]utilation, violation, torture and death have left their haunting memories in a hundred beautiful Armenian valleys, and the traveler in that region is seldom free from the evidence of this most colossal crime of all the ages,'" stated Armenian Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.

"All who oppose genocide welcome today's launch of legislation locking in U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide and -- once and for all - locking out Turkish denials of this crime," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "This bipartisan measure -- spearheaded by Representatives Adam Schiff and Gus Bilirakis -- also permanently locks down -- as official U.S. policy -- that future generations should be educated about the facts of this crime, America's noble relief efforts for its victims, and -- most urgently -- the relevance of the Armenian Genocide to modern-day crimes against humanity."

Representatives Adam Schiff and Gus Bilirakis were also joined by the other leaders of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, Representatives Frank Pallone, Peter King and Jackie Speier in underscoring their support for the recognition of the Armenian genocide. A bipartisan group of more than 70 Members joined as original cosponsors of the resolution.

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