|
|
PRESS
RELEASE
For Immediate Release ~ October 15, 2000
Contact: Lucy Keshishian
|
PROMINENT ARMENIAN AMERICAN DEMOCRATS CALL ON DNC CHAIRMAN TO HEAL MAJOR RIFT OVER WHITE HOUSE OPPOSITION TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
|
"We will, as a nation, one day look back in disgrace on our government's policy of complicity in the denial of the Armenian Genocide, just as today we recognize our great moral failures in supporting South African apartheid and interring Japanese Americans during World War II."
--Ani Boghigian Baghdassarian,
San Francisco, CA, 10/15/00
Falls Church, VA: Prominent Armenian American Democrats are calling upon the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee to ask him to help heal the growing rift between Armenian Americans and the Democratic Party over the White House's "aggressive, pervasive and deeply offensive" campaign against the Armenian Genocide resolution (H.Res.596).
In a letter to DNC Chairman Ed Rendell, Bedros Bandazian, a member of the Virginia Democratic Party and the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee, noted, "in the most forceful terms - that the Administration's campaign to defeat the Armenian Genocide resolution (H.Res.596) threatens to destroy the bonds which we have worked so hard to build between the Democratic Party and the Armenian American community."
San Francisco Democratic activist Ani Boghigian Baghdassarian, remarked about the Administration, "We will, as a nation, one day look back in disgrace on our government's policy of complicity in the denial of the Armenian Genocide, just as today we recognize our great moral failures in supporting South African apartheid and interring Japanese Americans during World War II."
While praising the support of Congressional Democrats for the resolution, Bandazian, stressed that he is "profoundly saddened that a Democratic Administration is leading the effort to defeat H.Res.596. This policy marks a shameful retreat from our Party's traditional defense of human rights." He closed his letter by asking that Chairman Rendell ensure that "the Democratic Party live up to its ideals. We expect only that our Party stand up for human rights and the integrity of our own historical record. In the days and hours before H.Res.596 reaches the House floor, we call upon you to personally help repair the damage that the Administration has caused by driving this wedge between our Party and the Armenian American community."
Bedros Bandazian has, for more than a decade, been a forceful and outspoken advocate at the national level for official U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In June of this year, while seated next to Vice President Al Gore at a State Department dinner in honor of visiting Armenian President Robert Kocharian, Bandazian discussed this matter personally with the Vice President.
###
Text of Letter from Bedros Bandazian to the Democratic National Committee
October 14, 2000
The Honorable Edward G. Rendell General Chairman of the Democratic National Committee 430 South Capitol Street, Southeast Washington, DC 20003
Dear Chairman Rendell:
I am writing, as a member of the Virginia Democratic Party and the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee, to note - in the most forceful terms - that the Administration's campaign to defeat the Armenian Genocide resolution (H.Res.596) threatens to destroy the bonds which we have worked so hard to build between the Democratic Party and the Armenian American community.
The Administration's campaign to defeat H.Res.596 has been aggressive, pervasive, and deeply offensive. According to today's Washington Post, President Clinton has "personally pressed members of Congress to kill the bill." Speaking against the resolution on behalf of the White House, spokesperson P.J. Crowley has dismissed the Armenian Genocide as a "a matter of historical controversy." The Administration has sent witnesses and high-level officials to Congress to testify and lobby against the resolution. These actions are, by any standard, fundamentally inconsistent with our nation's enduring commitment to human rights.
As Democrats, who have worked hard to spread the Democratic message at the grassroots level in our community, we are profoundly saddened that it is a Democratic Administration that is leading the effort to defeat H.Res.596. This policy marks a shameful retreat from our Party's traditional defense of human rights. These actions seriously impact our ability to reach out to build support for the Democratic Party, undermining our ability to help Democratic candidates at the local, state, and national levels. This is not the time for the Democratic Party to alienate its large, traditional base of Armenian American supporters nationwide.
To the credit of Congressional Democrats, the clear majority of the more than 145 cosponsors of this legislation are Democrats, as were the majority of those voting for its adoption in the International Relations Committee. This support, however, is in danger of being overshadowed by the Administration's efforts to ensure its defeat. We had initially hoped that the Vice-President would have distanced himself from the campaign to defeat H.Res.596, but he has proven unwilling, even in his role as a candidate, to indicate any differences with official Administration policy, as he has done on a number of other issues.
We ask only that the Democratic Party live up to its ideals. We expect only that our Party stand up for human rights and the integrity of our own historical record. In the days and hours before H.Res.596 legislation reaches the House floor, we call upon you to personally help repair the damage that the Administration has caused by driving this wedge between our Party and the Armenian American community.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
