When truth matters

Published: Saturday June 02, 2007

The debate over the Armenian Genocide resolutions in Congress has come a long way. It is no longer about whether the Ottoman Turkish state in 1915 killed Armenians, sent them to waste away in the desert, pursued policies that caused many of them to convert, and drove them from their homes and homeland. It is no longer about whether Armenian civilization in Asia Minor was targeted for destruction and uprooted. It is not even about whether in doing all of this, the Turkish state was committing genocide. All of that is generally accepted.

The debate is about whether it is helpful and convenient to acknowledge these truths.

The proponents of Turkey's official denial - joined unfortunately by the U.S. administration - have chosen to fight the genocide resolutions by arguing that Turkey will punish the United States if the Congress chooses to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide again. A more sophisticated version of the argument is that Turkish nationalists will take advantage of a resolution to generate anti-American sentiment in Turkey; instead, Turks should be allowed more time to come to grips on their own with the dark pages in the history of their country.

Discretion may sound like a wise course in a tumultuous world. But in this case it sends precisely the wrong message to Turkey, to Sudan, and to any would-be genocidal state. It says you can ultimately get away with anything. Moreover, succumbing to Turkey's blackmail and obscuring the truth are not honorable for the United States - especially when one part of the truth is that the U.S. government and the American people can be proud of the diplomatic and humanitarian role they played in 1915 and in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide.

As of now, 196 members of the House are cosponsors of the Armenian Genocide resolution. A large majority of House members will vote in favor of the resolution if it comes up for a vote. But the House leadership will not schedule it for a vote unless Armenian-Americans and their friends show themselves deeply committed to the passage of the resolution.

The best way to do that is to get more than half the members of the House to co-sponsor the resolution. That's 218 members.

This is an excellent time to ask members of the House to co-sponsor the resolution. Now that an overwhelming majority of Americans disapprove of President Bush's job performance, members of Congress who may have been reluctant to disregard the president's ­foreign-­policy advice in the past feel more comfortable than ever making their own judgments.

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But members of Congress will not co-sponsor the resolution, and the leadership will not schedule a vote, as we noted, unless they hear from us. Today we are not simply asking you to contact your representative about the resolution. Today we are asking you to mobilize everyone you know to do so.

There are 55 members in particular who need to hear from their constituents. Here are 18 members of the Armenian Caucus who have not signed on as co-sponsors:

Dave Camp (R.-Mich.)
Ben Chandler (D.-Ky.)
Vernon Ehlers (R.-Mich.)
Tom Feeney (R.-Fla.)
Luis Fortuno (R.-P.R.)
Elton Gallegly (R.-Calif.)
Darlene Hooley (D.-Ore.)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D.-Tex.)
Marcy Kaptur (D.-Ohio)
Peter King (R.-N.Y.)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R.-Fla.)
Jerry Moran (R.-Kan.)
Bill Pascrell (D.-N.J.)
Joseph Pitts (R.-Pa.)
Jim Saxton (R.-N.J.)
Adam Smith (D.-Wash.)
Todd Tiahrt (R.-Kan.)
Fred Upton (R.-Mich.)

(Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D.-Md.) are members of the caucus but as top leaders of the House rarely if ever sign onto legislative initiatives.)

Here are four members of Congress who co-sponsored the same resolution in the last Congress but have not co-sponsored the current resolution:

John Barrow (D.-Ga.)
Randy Kuhl (R.-N.Y.)
John McHugh (R.-N.Y.)
Mike McIntyre (D.-N.C.)

And here are 33 new members of the House who haven't signed on as co-sponsors.

Jason Altmire (D.-Pa.)
Michael Arcuri (D.-N.Y.)
Nancy Boyda (D.-Kan.)
Vern Buchanan (R.-Fla.)
Christopher Carney (D.-Conn.)
Kathy Castor (D.-Fla.)
Stephen Cohen (D.-Tenn.)
David Davis (R.-Tenn.)
Joe Donnelly (D.-Ind.)
Brad Ellsworth (D.-Ind.)
Mary Fallin (R.-Okla.)
Gabrielle Giffords (D.-Ariz.)
Kristen Gillibrand (D.-N.Y.)
John Hall (D.-N.Y.)
Dean Heller (R.-Nev.)
Baron Hill (D.-Ind.)
Mazie Hirono (D.-Hawaii)
Jim Jordan (R.-Ohio)
Steve Kagen (D.-Wis.)
Ron Klein (D.-Fla.)
Nick Lampson (D.-Tex.)
Dave Loebsack (D.-Iowa)
Harry Mitchell (D.-Ariz.)
Patrick Murphy (D.-Pa.)
William Sali (R.-Idaho)
Joe Sestak (D.-Pa.)
Carol Porter-Shea (D.-N.H.)
Heath Shuler (D.-N.C.)
Adrian Smith (R.-Neb.)
Tim Walberg (R.-Mich.)
Peter Welch (D.-Vt.)
Charlie Wilson (D.-Ohio)
John Yarmuth (D.-Ky.)

Are you involved in an organization? Do you have friends and family? Then how about organizing a phone blitz? Everyone in the group should call several - say seven - people they know, help them identify their representative in Congress, and urge them to contact the member. And then the next day, follow up.

Sure, email is a good way to do the same thing. Or you might try text messaging. But however you get others to join you, do it, and do it now.

Your friends should ask their members of Congress to cosponsor House Resolution 106, the Armenian Genocide resolution.

And what if your representative is already a cosponsor? Thank him or her. Remember that some representative succumb to pressure and withdraw their co-sponsorship. So it's good to let co-sponsors know that you appreciate their efforts.

To find out whether your representative is a co-sponsor, visit http://thomas.loc.gov type "H. Res. 106" in the box for "Bill number" and then click on "Bill Summary and Status."