Of course the victims being Christian and the perpetrators being Muslim has nothing to do with Pelosi’s decision…
(The Hill)– The 111th Congress adjourned Wednesday without bringing up the latest incarnation of legislation that would have recognized the 1915 killings of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Lobbying groups were on alert over the weekend on reports that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would bring the resolution to the floor in the final days of the lame-duck session.
But lawmakers went home for the holidays without passing Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) resolution, angering Armenian groups and leaving Turkish groups breathing a sigh of relief.
“[Pelosi’s] decision to not move this legislation forward during her four years as Speaker represents a failure of Congressional leadership on human rights and, sadly, a setback to America’s standing in the struggle to end the cycle of genocide,” Ken Hachikian, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America, said in a statement.
A similar resolution was approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee in 2007. Just like this time around, the White House came out against the resolution, fearing it would damage relations with Turkey, and Pelosi did not bring the measure to the floor.
Schiff said that he and co-sponsors had launched a “full-press effort” to get the resolution to the floor in the past weeks.
“We believed that Turkey’s burgeoning alliance with Iran, its support for Hamas, and its insincere promise to seek reconciliation with modern Armenia would finally serve to offset Turkey’s shameful campaign of denial,” Schiff said in a statement.
The Blue Dog Democrat said he was “deeply disappointed” that Congress recessed without taking up the measure.
“To my many thousands of Armenian-American constituents and friends, I pledge to you that I will continue to press for recognition of the Armenian Genocide until the memory of those who perished from 1915-23 is formally and forever preserved in our national consciousness,” Schiff said.