Aims

S.RES.196 -- Calling upon the Government of Turkey to facilitate the reopening of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Theological School of Halki without condition or further delay. (Introduced in Senate - IS)

SRES 196 IS
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 196
Calling upon the Government of Turkey to facilitate the reopening of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Theological School of Halki without condition or further delay.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 24, 2011
Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. REID, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. MENENDEZ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

________________________________________

RESOLUTION
Calling upon the Government of Turkey to facilitate the reopening of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Theological School of Halki without condition or further delay.
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate is an institution with a history spanning 17 centuries, serving as the center of the Orthodox Christian Church throughout the world;
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate sits at the crossroads of East and West, offering a unique perspective on the religions and cultures of the world;
Whereas the title of Ecumenical Patriarch was formally accorded to the Archbishop of Constantinople by a synod convened in Constantinople during the sixth century;
Whereas, since November 1991, His All Holiness, Bartholomew I, has served as Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch;
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997, in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions toward religious understanding and peace;
Whereas, during the 110th Congress, 75 Senators and the overwhelming majority of members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives wrote to President George W. Bush and the Prime Minister of Turkey to express congressional concern, which continues today, regarding the absence of religious freedom for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in the areas of church-controlled Patriarchal succession, the confiscation of the vast majority of Patriarchal properties, recognition of the international Ecumenicity of the Patriarchate, and the reopening of the Theological School of Halki;
Whereas the Theological School of Halki, founded in 1844 and located outside Istanbul, Turkey, served as the principal seminary for the Ecumenical Patriarchate until its forcible closure by the Turkish authorities in 1971;
Whereas the alumni of this preeminent educational institution include numerous prominent Orthodox scholars, theologians, priests, bishops, and patriarchs, including Bartholomew I;
Whereas the Republic of Turkey has been a participating state of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) since signing the Helsinki Final Act in 1975;
Whereas in 1989, the OSCE participating states adopted the Vienna Concluding Document, committing to respect the right of religious communities to provide `training of religious personnel in appropriate institutions';
Whereas the continued closure of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Theological School of Halki has been an ongoing issue of concern for the American people and the United States Congress and has been repeatedly raised by members of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and by United States delegations to the OSCE's annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting;
Whereas, in his address to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on April 6, 2009, President Barack Obama said, `Freedom of religion and expression lead to a strong and vibrant civil society that only strengthens the state, which is why steps like reopening Halki Seminary will send such an important signal inside Turkey and beyond.';
Whereas, in a welcomed development, the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met with the Ecumenical Patriarch on August 15, 2009, and, in an address to a wider gathering of minority religious leaders that day, concluded by stating, `We should not be of those who gather, talk, and disperse. A result should come out of this.';
Whereas, during his visit to the United States in November 2009, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I raised the issue of the continued closure of the Theological School of Halki with President Obama, congressional leaders, and others;
Whereas, in a welcome development, for the first time since 1922, the Government of Turkey in August 2010 allowed the liturgical celebration by the Ecumenical Patriarch at the historic Sumela Monastery; and
Whereas, following a unanimous decision by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in 2010, ruling that Turkey return the former Greek Orphanage on Buyukada Island to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, on the eve of the feast day of St. Andrew observed on November 30, the Government of Turkey provided lawyers representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate with the formal property title for the confiscated building: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) welcomes the historic meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I;
(2) welcomes the positive gestures by the Government of Turkey, including allowing the liturgical celebration by the Ecumenical Patriarch at the historic Sumela Monastery and the return of the former Greek Orphanage on Buyukada Island to the Ecumenical Patriarchate;
(3) urges the Government of Turkey to facilitate the reopening of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Theological School of Halki without condition or further delay; and
(4) urges the Government of Turkey to address other longstanding concerns relating to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
 

H.RES.306 -- Whereas the United States has an interest in protecting and preserving the rights of national, religious, and ethnic groups worldwide; (Introduced in House - IH)


HRES 306 IH
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 306
Urging the Republic of Turkey to safeguard its Christian heritage and to return confiscated church properties.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 15, 2011
Mr. ROYCE (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. COSTA, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. BACA, Mr. CICILLINE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. NUNES, Ms. CHU, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. WOLF, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. DENHAM, Mr. CARDOZA, and Mr. DOLD) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Urging the Republic of Turkey to safeguard its Christian heritage and to return confiscated church properties.
Whereas the United States has an interest in protecting and preserving the rights of national, religious, and ethnic groups worldwide;
Whereas the United States remains concerned about the welfare of Christian communities within the Republic of Turkey, their right to worship and practice their faiths freely, and the legal status and condition of churches and other places of worship, monasteries, schools, hospitals, monuments, relics, holy sites, and other religious properties in the Republic of Turkey;
Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) affirms that `(e)veryone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance';
Whereas the Republic of Turkey is a signatory to the UDHR and therefore is obligated to accord to all its citizens, including religious minorities, `freedom of thought, conscience, and religion', as defined by the UDHR;
Whereas the Ottoman Empire's oppression and intentional destruction of much of its ancient Christian populations, including over 2,000,000 Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Pontians, and Syriacs, has left only a small fraction of these populations to care for their vast religious heritage within modern Turkey;
Whereas the non-Muslim population in the contemporary Republic of Turkey is less than one percent of the total population, rendering these religious communities especially vulnerable;
Whereas the Republic of Turkey has been responsible for the destruction and theft of much of the Christian heritage within its borders;
Whereas the Republic of Turkey, through official and unofficial acts of discrimination, intolerance, and intimidation, has hindered the remaining Christians on its territory from freely practicing their ancient faiths;
Whereas in its 2011 Annual Report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom placed Turkey on its `Watch List' for the third straight year, and concluded that `The Turkish government continues to impose serious limitations on freedom of religion or belief, thereby threatening the continued vitality and survival of minority religious communities in Turkey.'; and
Whereas Turkish reforms carried out over the past decade to ameliorate the situation of religious minorities have been sorely inadequate: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives urges the Government of Turkey to honor its obligations under international treaties and human rights law to--
(1) end all forms of religious discrimination;
(2) allow the rightful church and lay owners of Christian church properties, without hindrance or restriction, to organize and administer prayer services, religious education, clerical training, appointments, and succession, religious community gatherings, social services, including ministry to the needs of the poor and infirm, and other religious activities;
(3) return to their rightful owners all Christian churches and other places of worship, monasteries, schools, hospitals, monuments, relics, holy sites, and other religious properties, including movable properties, such as artwork, manuscripts, vestments, vessels, and other artifacts; and
(4) allow the rightful Christian church and lay owners of Christian church properties, without hindrance or restriction, to preserve, reconstruct, and repair, as they see fit, all Christian churches and other places of worship, monasteries, schools, hospitals, monuments, relics, holy sites, and other religious properties within Turkey.
 

H.RES.180 -- Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the spiritual home of the world's oldest and second largest Christian Church; (Introduced in House - IH)


112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 180
Urging Turkey to respect the rights and religious freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 17, 2011
Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. GRIMM, Ms. TSONGAS, and Ms. BERKLEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

________________________________________

RESOLUTION
Urging Turkey to respect the rights and religious freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the spiritual home of the world's oldest and second largest Christian Church;

Whereas within the 2,000-year-old Sacred See of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the New Testament was codified and the Nicene Creed was created;
 
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is one of the world's preeminent spiritual leaders and peacemakers representing over 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide;
 
Whereas the disappearance of the See would mean the end of a crucial link between the Christian and the Muslim world since the continuing presence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey is a living testimony of religious co-existence since 1453;
 
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate has a record of reaching out and working for peace and reconciliation amongst all faiths and has fostered dialogue among Christians, Jews, and Muslims;
 
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate co-sponsored the Peace and Tolerance Conference in Istanbul which issued the Bosphorus Declaration that stated, `A crime committed in the name of religion is a crime against religion.';
 
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stated in Brussels in 2004, `The Ecumenical Patriarchate is a supranational ecclesiastical institution . . . which demonstrates religious tolerance as a beautiful reality. For we bear respect toward all of our humans,
irrespective of their faith. Without any trace of fanaticism or discrimination on account of differences of religion, we coexist peacefully and in a spirit that honors each and every human being.';
 
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has called for the admission of Turkey into the European Union because, `. . . it may provide a concrete example and a powerful symbol of mutually beneficial cooperation between the western and Islamic worlds and put an end to the talk of the clash of civilizations. This in turn would be a true strengthening of Europe and the European ideals that converge with the values of the `pilgrims of the book' spoken of by the current Prime Minister of Turkey.';
 
Whereas in 1993 the European Union defined the membership criteria for accession to the European Union at the Copenhagen European Council, obligating candidate countries to have achieved certain levels of reform, including stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, and respect for and protection of minorities;
 
Whereas under the terms of the draft European Union Constitution, current, and prospective member states should have the goal of eliminating discrimination based on sex, race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age, or sexual orientation;
 
Whereas the Turkish Constitution secures religious rights for all Turkish citizens;
 
Whereas the Government of Turkey has failed to recognize the Ecumenical Patriarchate's international status;
 
Whereas the Government of Turkey has limited to Turkish nationals the candidates available to the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church for selection as the Ecumenical Patriarchate and reneged on its agreement to reopen the Theological School at Halki, thus impeding training for the Orthodox clergy in Turkey;
 
Whereas the Government of Turkey has confiscated 75 percent of the Ecumenical Patriarchate properties and has placed a 42-percent retroactive tax on the Balukli Hospital of Istanbul which is operated by the Ecumenical Patriarchate; and
 
Whereas the European Council has agreed to open accession negotiations with Turkey, conditional upon the continuation by Turkey of reform processes to increase protection and support for human rights and civil liberties: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
 
(1) based on the goals set forth in the draft of the European Union Constitution, calls on Turkey to eliminate all forms of discrimination, particularly those based on race or religion, and immediately--
 
(A) grant the Ecumenical Patriarchate appropriate international recognition and ecclesiastic succession;
(B) grant the Ecumenical Patriarchate the right to train clergy of all nationalities, not just Turkish nationals; and
(C) respect human rights and property rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate;
 
(2) calls on Turkey to pledge to uphold and safeguard religious and human rights without compromise;
 
(3) encourages Turkey to continue the achievement of processes and programs to modernize and democratize its own society;
 
(4) calls on Turkey to respect international law, European Union laws, and the basic tenets of human rights; and
 
(5) expresses its view that Turkey must prove that it is ready to meet the criteria set forth by the Copenhagen European Council prior to its accession into the European Union.

 

H.RES.304 -- Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution (Introduced in House - IH)

 

HRES 304 IH
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 304
Calling upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 14, 2011

Mr. DOLD (for himself, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. HOYER, Mr. DREIER, Mr. WOLF, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. BACA, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. GRIMM, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. COSTA, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. PETERS, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. CHU, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. DENHAM, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. GARRETT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. NUNES, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. HIMES, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. WU, Mr. HOLT, Mr. STARK, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. RANGEL, and Mr. MCGOVERN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
________________________________________
RESOLUTION

Calling upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes.
Resolved,
SHORT TITLE
Section 1.
This resolution may be cited as the `Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution'.
FINDINGS
Sec. 2.
The House of Representatives finds the following:
(1) The Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed, 500,000 survivors were expelled from their homes, and which succeeded in the elimination of the over 2,500-year presence of Armenians in their historic homeland.
(2) On May 24, 1915, the Allied Powers, England, France, and Russia, jointly issued a statement explicitly charging for the first time ever another government of committing `a crime against humanity'.
(3) This joint statement stated `the Allied Governments announce publicly to the Sublime Porte that they will hold personally responsible for these crimes all members of the Ottoman Government, as well as those of their agents who are implicated in such massacres'.
(4) The post-World War I Turkish Government indicted the top leaders involved in the `organization and execution' of the Armenian Genocide and in the `massacre and destruction of the Armenians'.
(5) In a series of courts-martial, officials of the Young Turk Regime were tried and convicted, as charged, for organizing and executing massacres against the Armenian people.
(6) The chief organizers of the Armenian Genocide, Minister of War Enver, Minister of the Interior Talaat, and Minister of the Navy Jemal were all condemned to death for their crimes, however, the verdicts of the courts were not enforced.
(7) The Armenian Genocide and these domestic judicial failures are documented with overwhelming evidence in the national archives of Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, the United States, the Vatican and many other countries, and this vast body of evidence attests to the same facts, the same events, and the same consequences.
(8) The United States National Archives and Record Administration holds extensive and thorough documentation on the Armenian Genocide, especially in its holdings under Record Group 59 of the United States Department of State, files 867.00 and 867.40, which are open and widely available to the public and interested institutions.
(9) The Honorable Henry Morgenthau, United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916, organized and led protests by officials of many countries, among them the allies of the Ottoman Empire, against the Armenian Genocide.
(10) Ambassador Morgenthau explicitly described to the United States Department of State the policy of the Government of the Ottoman Empire as `a campaign of race extermination,' and was instructed on July 16, 1915, by United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing that the `Department approves your procedure . . . to stop Armenian persecution'.
(11) Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 of February 9, 1916, resolved that `the President of the United States be respectfully asked to designate a day on which the citizens of this country may give expression to their sympathy by contributing funds now being raised for the relief of the Armenians', who at the time were enduring `starvation, disease, and untold suffering'.
(12) President Woodrow Wilson concurred and also encouraged the formation of the organization known as Near East Relief, chartered by an Act of Congress, which contributed some $116,000,000 from 1915 to 1930 to aid Armenian Genocide survivors, including 132,000 orphans who became foster children of the American people.
(13) Senate Resolution 359, dated May 11, 1920, stated in part, `the testimony adduced at the hearings conducted by the sub-committee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations have clearly established the truth of the reported massacres and other atrocities from which the Armenian people have suffered'.
(14) The resolution followed the April 13, 1920, report to the Senate of the American Military Mission to Armenia led by General James Harbord, that stated `[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'.
(15) As displayed in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Adolf Hitler, on ordering his military commanders to attack Poland without provocation in 1939, dismissed objections by saying `[w]ho, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?' and thus set the stage for the Holocaust.
(16) Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term `genocide' in 1944, and who was the earliest proponent of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, invoked the Armenian case as a definitive example of genocide in the 20th century.
(17) The first resolution on genocide adopted by the United Nations at Lemkin's urging, the December 11, 1946, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 96(1) and the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide itself recognized the Armenian Genocide as the type of crime the United Nations intended to prevent and punish by codifying existing standards.
(18) In 1948, the United Nations War Crimes Commission invoked the Armenian Genocide `precisely . . . one of the types of acts which the modern term `crimes against humanity' is intended to cover' as a precedent for the Nuremberg tribunals.
(19) The Commission stated that `[t]he provisions of Article 230 of the Peace Treaty of Sevres were obviously intended to cover, in conformity with the Allied note of 1915 . . ., offenses which had been committed on Turkish territory against persons of Turkish citizenship, though of Armenian or Greek race. This article constitutes therefore a precedent for Article 6c and 5c of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Charters, and offers an example of one of the categories of `crimes against humanity' as understood by these enactments'.
(20) House Joint Resolution 148, adopted on April 8, 1975, resolved: `[t]hat April 24, 1975, is hereby designated as `National Day of Remembrance of Man's Inhumanity to Man', and the President of the United States is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such day as a day of remembrance for all the victims of genocide, especially those of Armenian ancestry . . .'.
(21) President Ronald Reagan in proclamation number 4838, dated April 22, 1981, stated in part `like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians, which followed it--and like too many other persecutions of too many other people--the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten'.
(22) House Joint Resolution 247, adopted on September 10, 1984, resolved: `[t]hat April 24, 1985, is hereby designated as `National Day of Remembrance of Man's Inhumanity to Man', and the President of the United States is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such day as a day of remembrance for all the victims of genocide, especially the one and one-half million people of Armenian ancestry . . .'.
(23) In August 1985, after extensive study and deliberation, the United Nations SubCommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities voted 14 to 1 to accept a report entitled `Study of the Question of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,' which stated `[t]he Nazi aberration has unfortunately not been the only case of genocide in the 20th century. Among other examples which can be cited as qualifying are . . . the Ottoman massacre of Armenians in 1915-1916'.
(24) This report also explained that `[a]t least 1,000,000, and possibly well over half of the Armenian population, are reliably estimated to have been killed or death marched by independent authorities and eye-witnesses. This is corroborated by reports in United States, German and British archives and of contemporary diplomats in the Ottoman Empire, including those of its ally Germany.'.
(25) The United States Holocaust Memorial Council, an independent Federal agency, unanimously resolved on April 30, 1981, that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum would include the Armenian Genocide in the Museum and has since done so.
(26) Reviewing an aberrant 1982 expression (later retracted) by the United States Department of State asserting that the facts of the Armenian Genocide may be ambiguous, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1993, after a review of documents pertaining to the policy record of the United States, noted that the assertion on ambiguity in the United States record about the Armenian Genocide `contradicted longstanding United States policy and was eventually retracted'.
(27) On June 5, 1996, the House of Representatives adopted an amendment to House Bill 3540 (the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1997) to reduce aid to Turkey by $3,000,000 (an estimate of its payment of lobbying fees in the United States) until the Turkish Government acknowledged the Armenian Genocide and took steps to honor the memory of its victims.
(28) President William Jefferson Clinton, on April 24, 1998, stated: `This year, as in the past, we join with Armenian-Americans throughout the nation in commemorating one of the saddest chapters in the history of this century, the deportations and massacres of a million and a half Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the years 1915-1923.'.
(29) President George W. Bush, on April 24, 2004, stated: `On this day, we pause in remembrance of one of the most horrible tragedies of the 20th century, the annihilation of as many as 1,500,000 Armenians through forced exile and murder at the end of the Ottoman Empire.'.
(30) Despite the international recognition and affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, the failure of the domestic and international authorities to punish those responsible for the Armenian Genocide is a reason why similar genocides have recurred and may recur in the future, and that a just resolution will help prevent future genocides.
DECLARATION OF POLICY
Sec. 3.
The House of Representatives--
(1) calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the failure to realize a just resolution; and
(2) calls upon the President in the President's annual message commemorating the Armenian Genocide issued on or about April 24, to accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide and to recall the proud history of United States intervention in opposition to the Armenian Genocide.
 

95 Members as of September 24, 2009

Alabama - 2
Rep. Robert Aderholt
R-Alabama/4th

Rep. Spencer Bachus
R-Alabama/6th

American Samoa - 1
Rep. Eni Falmeoveaga
D-American Samoa

Arkansas - 3
Rep. John Boozman
R-Arkansas/3rd

Rep. Mike Ross
D-Arkansas/4th

Rep. Vic Snyder
D-Arkansas/2nd

California - 3
Rep. Howard Berman
D-California/28th 

Rep. Wally Herger
R-California/2nd

Rep. Henry Waxman
D-California/30th  

Colorado – 2
Rep. Mike Coffman
R-Colorado/6th

Rep. Jared Polis
D-Colorado/2nd

Connecticut - 1
Rep. Jim Himes
D-Connecticut/4th

Florida - 5
Rep. Alcee Hastings
D-Florida/23rd

Rep. Adam Putnam
R-Florida/12th 

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
R-Florida/18th 

Rep. Cliff Stearns
R-Florida/6th 

Rep. Robert Wexler – Co-Chair
D-Florida/19th

Georgia – 3
Rep. Henry C. “Hank” Johnson
D-Georgia/4th  

Rep. John Lewis
D-Georgia/5th 

Rep. David Scott
D-Georgia/13th  

Idaho – 1
Rep. Mike Simpson
R-Idaho/2nd 

Illinois - 2
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.
D-Illinois/2nd

Rep. Tim Johnson
R-Illinois/15th

Indiana - 4
Rep. Dan Burton
R-Indiana/5th 

Rep. Andre Carson
D-Indiana/7th 

Rep. Brad Ellsworth
D-Indiana/8th

Rep. Mike Pence
R-Indiana/6th 

Kansas – 1
Rep. Dennis Moore
D-Kansas/3rd 

Kentucky – 3
Rep. Ben Chandler
D-Kentucky/6th 

Rep. Geoff Davis
R-Kentucky/4th

Rep. Ed Whitfield – Co-Chair
R-Kentucky/1st

Louisiana - 4
Rep. Rodney Alexander
R-Louisiana/5th

Rep. Charles W. Boustany, Jr.
R-Louisiana/7th 

Rep. Bill Cassidy
R-Louisiana/6th

Rep. Steve Scalise
R-Louisiana/1st

Maryland – 2
Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett
R-Maryland/6th

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger
D-Maryland/2nd

Massachusetts – 1
Rep. William D. Delahunt
D-Massachusetts/10th

Michigan - 1
Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick
D-Michigan/13th

Minnesota - 1
Rep. Betty McCollum
D-Minnesota/4th

Mississippi - 2
Rep. Gene Taylor
D-Mississippi/4th 

Rep. Bennie Thomson
D-Mississippi/2nd

Missouri - 2
Rep. Russ Carnahan
D-Missouri/3rd

Rep. Ike Skelton
D-Missouri/4th 

New Jersey – 2
Rep. Rush Holt
D-New Jersey/12th

Rep. Bill Pascrell
D-New Jersey/8th 

New York – 3
Rep. Michael McMahon
D-New York/13th

Rep. Gregory W. Meeks
D-New York/6th

Rep. Edolphus Towns
D-New York/10th 

North Carolina - 10
Rep. G. K. Butterfield
D-North Carolina/1st

Rep. Howard Coble
R-North Carolina/6th

Rep. Bob Etheridge
D-North Carolina/2nd 

Rep. Virginia Foxx
R-North Carolina/5th

Rep. Walter Jones, Jr.
R-North Carolina/3rd

Rep. Larry Kissell
D-North Carolina/8th

Rep. Mike McIntyre
D-North Carolina/7th

Rep. Brad Miller
D-North Carolina/13th

Rep. David Price
D-North Carolina/4th

Rep. Heath Shuler
D-North Carolina/11th

North Dakota - 1
Rep. Earl Pomeroy
D-North Dakota/At Large

Ohio - 2
Rep. Robert E. Latta
R-Ohio/5th

Rep. Jean Schmidt
R-Ohio/2nd

Oklahoma - 1
Rep. Tom Cole
R-Oklahoma/4th 

Pennsylvania – 6
Rep. Christopher P. Carney
D-Pennsylvania/10th

Rep. John Murtha
D-Pennsylvania/12th

Rep. Joe Pitts
R-Pennsylvania/16th 

Rep. Todd Platts
R-Pennsylvania/19th

Rep. Bill Shuster
R-Pennsylvania/9th  

Congressman Glenn Thompson
R-Pennsylvania/5th 

Puerto Rico – 1
Res. Comm. Pedro R. Pierluisi
D-Puerto Rico

South Carolina - 2
Rep. Gresham Barrett
R-South Carolina/3rd 

Rep. Joe Wilson
R-South Carolina/2nd

Tennessee - 3
Rep. Stephen Cohen
D-Tennessee/9th 

Rep. Lincoln Davis
D-Tennessee/4th

Rep. John Tanner
D-Tennessee/8th 

Texas - 13
Rep. Joe Barton
R-Texas/6th

Rep. Henry Cueller
D-Texas/28th

Rep. John Culberson
R-Texas/7th

Rep. Lloyd Doggett
D-Texas/25th 

Rep. Kay Granger – Co-Chair
R-Texas/12th

Rep. Gene Green
D-Texas/29th 

Rep. Jeb Hensarling
R-Texas/5th 

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
D-Texas/18th

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson
D-Texas/30th 

Rep. Pete Olson
R-Texas/22nd

Rep. Solomon Ortiz
D-Texas/27th

Rep. Silvestre Reyes
D-Texas/16th 

Rep. Pete Sessions
R-Texas/32nd 

Virginia - 3
Rep. Jim Moran
D-Virginia/8th 

Rep. Glenn C. Nye
D-Virginia/2nd

Rep. Rob Wittman
R-Virginia/1st

Washington - 3
Rep. Brian Baird
D-Washington/3rd 

Rep Norm Dicks
D-Washington/6th 

Rep. Adam Smith
D-Washington/9th 

West Virginia - 1
Rep. Nick Rahall
D-West Virginia/3rd 

 

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