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Support our friends running for the House of Representatives

Published: Wednesday October 29, 2008

The Armenian Reporter and USAPAC endorse candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives. (See the print version of this editorial in pdf form.).

The Armenian Reporter and the U.S.-Armenia Public Affairs Committee (USAPAC) jointly urge Armenian-Americans to support our friends running for the House of Representatives. Last week, we focused on the California delegation. This week we consider the rest of the nation.

In our endorsements, as always we have given special consideration to members of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues. We have considered candidates' interest in and support of Armenian-American issues, including co-sponsorship and support of H. Res. 106, which affirms the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide. We have also noted where members have taken additional steps to support the Armenian-American agenda in Congress.

In several cases, we urge Armenian-Americans to oppose members who have opposed or withdrawn their support of House Resolution 106. The House Foreign Affairs Committee adopted the resolution in October 2007 over the very strong opposition of the Bush administration and the Turkish lobby. That led to an even more intense effort to kill the resolution on the floor of the full House. The administration and the Turkish lobby mobilized their resources across the country, making the fight for the resolution a top story for most news organizations for a few days.

This was a seminal matter. Members of Congress were being asked by the administration and a foreign state to suppress a proud chapter of American history - the efforts of the State Department, Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, and U.S. consuls in the Ottoman provinces in 1915-17 to save the Armenians, and the broad response of the American people to appeals for help. Why? Because an American ally, Turkey, was blackmailing the United States:  If the resolution was adopted, the Turkish prime minister wrote ominously in the Wall Street Journal for October 19, 2007, Turkey, would take action that would "not be in the interests of either the U.S. or Turkey."

We could not and cannot accept that the appropriate U.S. response to such a threat would be to coddle the Turkish government.

On Election Day, November 4, let the Armenian-American voice be heard loud and clear at the polls.

(See the print version of this editorial in pdf form.)

We support

Alabama

Artur Davis (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

American Samoa

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega (D.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, voted in favor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Arizona

Ed Pastor (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Gabrielle Giffords (D.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, voted in favor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Raul Grijalva (D.), a member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues and co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Colorado

Diana DeGette (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Ed Perlmutter (D.), a member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues and co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

John Salazar (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Marilyn Musgrave (R.), a member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues and co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Connecticut

Chris Murphy (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Chris Shays (R.), a member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues and co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Joe Courtney (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

John Larson (D.), a member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues and co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Rosa DeLauro (D.), a member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues and co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

District of Columbia

Eleonor Holmes Norton (D.), a member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues and co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Florida

Gus Bilirakis (R.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, voted in favor of the Armenian Genocide resolution. A member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues, he spoke at the September 2008 Capitol Hill Karabakh event

Kendrick Meek (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R.), a member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues and co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Mario Diaz-Balart (R.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Ron Klein (D.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, voted in favor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Georgia

Jack Kingston (R.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Jim Marshall (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

John Barrow (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

John Lewis (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Guam

Madeleine Bordallo (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Hawaii

Mazie Hirono (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Neil Abercrombie (D.), a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Illinois

Bobby Rush (D.), a member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues and co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Dan Lipinski (D.), a member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues and co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Danny Davis (D.), a member of the House Caucus on Armenian Issues and co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution.