Things are currently heated up in Washington. To be honest, they never were normal. It’s just that these days everything is dramatic for Armenian Americans. They really feel the glory of victory after the Democrats won and formed a majority in the legislative branch-the resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide may be approved.
Resolution N106
Six Congressmen headed by Adam Schiff presented Resolution 106 to the U.S. House of Representatives on January 30. The bill has already been approved by the Congressmen of the two political parties. Apparently, this is the same resolution that the previous Congress wasn’t able to discuss. The then Resolution 316 was approved by the International Relations committee, however it wasn’t included in the agenda of the Congress due to the veto of the Republican speaker.
The resolution consists of two parts. In the first part, there are 30 points listing the facts and events which are taken into consideration and call on naming the events of 1915 as genocide. The second part of the resolution is a letter of recommendation-the bill calls on the White House and particularly George Bush to use the term “genocide” in his yearly addresses. Keeping the resolution and in general the Armenian Issue in the agenda of the Congress is the result of the joint efforts of the Armenian Assembly of America and the ANCA. The representatives of these two organizations are the ones constantly working with the Congressmen in order to get the necessary aid and voices.
Armenian Assembly of America
The most popular photograph of executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America Brian Arduni which has been printed in almost all Armenian American presses, is the photo of Arduni and Nancy Pelosi.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has always been pro-Armenian. She is one of the most active Congresswomen defending the Armenian Issue. The photo has been circulated to prove her role on the issue and also to recall. When I met her after the elections, the first question, obviously, was aimed to find out how many pro-Armenian Congressmen there are. Of course, it’s a good thing that the Democrats won, but there were also many influential Democrats that are friends of the Assembly.
Last year, we had 163 supporters and that was a rather impressive number. Currently, there are 146 supporters. Some of them were not re-elected, while others retired. You start working from the beginning with each new Congress and Armenians need more than 200 voices in order to have a majority.
– Now when Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats form a majority, how possible is it for the resolution to pass?
– Yes, the political arrangement in the Congress and the Senate is good for us. Numerous Congressmen know about the Armenian Genocide and are informed about Armenian-American ties. Nancy Pelosi had implied that she would defend the resolution. But that’s not enough. We have a huge amount of “homework” to do in order to fight for the approval of the resolution.
– Some of the observers criticize the Armenian Assembly for simplifying the process of the resolution approval. In Armenia, it had even gotten up to the point of forcing the use of the term “genocide” for the candidacy of Richard Hoagland for the post of U.S. Ambassador.
– I don’t think that was the case. We don’t look at the issue based on one speech, but rather we observe it more profoundly and at the global level. We wish to state what really happened with this resolution and the congressional hearings, so that each U.S. Ambassador, whether in France, Armenia or Turkey, is able to call events by their names. U.S. Presidents give the complete dictionary description of that tragedy in their annual addresses, but refuse to use that word. Our job is to clarify that dark page in world history for everyone, including Americans.
The horse stride of Gafesjian
Brian Arduni only messed up one time during the interview and even asked me to turn off the sound recorder for a while until he gathered his thoughts. My question was about the newly founded Armenian lobbying organization.
Last year, US Armenian businessman and benefactor Jerard Gafesjian founded a new organization called USAPAC’ U.S.-Armenia Public Affairs Committee. At first, the name of this organization confused many and even Brian confessed that he had received many calls from people who were puzzled.
To begin with, Gafesjian has been and still is member of the Armenian Assembly board (Board of Trustees). In that sense, he was so influential that he was able to implement his ideas. Secondly, Gafesjian has appointed Ross Vartian and Rob Mosher as executive directors of the organization. Both Vartian and Mosher have worked for the Assembly. In fact, Vartian has been the longest-running executive director of the Assembly. He has been considered an extremely influential individual and is well-known for his connections in Congress and his intimate ties with Congressmen. Vartian left the Assembly by his own will and with the purpose of receiving pension.
So, Gafesjian has come up with a team and many trust the effectiveness of this team’s work. In fact, it appears that the benefactor is ready to make large investments in order to keep the organization running. Founder of the Assembly and US Armenian benefactor Hrair Hovnanyan sold the Armenian Assembly office which was located in Washington for a couple of years and has moved it to another building. Ross Vartian has announced that the new organization will mainly be involved in the current political processes and will especially try to reduce the influence that American oil has on U.S. foreign policy. As for Turkey, the organization is in favor of leading moderate relations with the country because, in their opinion, the future EU membership will help more than hurt Armenia.
As for the resolution and recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the USAPAC has promised to make up for what the Armenian Assembly and ANCA haven’t done and try to unite the powers of all sides. Currently, it is hard to say whether this is an anti-Armenian Assembly organization or simply a new, fresh power. It’s clear that it is more preferable to have one strong lobbying organization than a couple of weak groups. In this case, the fate of the other groups will depend on the strategies of the newly founded organization. But until then, all the efforts and connections of US Armenians are aimed towards the resolution, which is circulated in Congress.
Results of the resolution
Even if Resolution 106 passes, there is no guarantee that Bush will use the term “genocide” in his address this April. After all, the resolution calls on using that term and doesn’t obligate. Meanwhile, the resolution will be the legislative basis with which Armenian Americans may demand a more precise modification of the annual address. It’s hard to predict what will happen this time. It’s clear that the Bush administration is forced to work with the bipartisan legislative body. The increase in American soldiers in Iraq and 2008 budget expenses are already topics for discussion. The problem is how the Armenian Genocide will fit in with all this. By agreeing with the expenses, the Democrats will propose coming to terms with the resolution that has been debated on for so long-this is mere possibility, taking into consideration the fact that we still have the upcoming U.S. presidential elections and the votes of the Armenian Americans play an essential role in those elections.
On the other hand, we have the Turkish lobbying that is also working. These days the Turks are working at an unprecedented active pace. This week the Turkish Foreign Minister will be in Washington and it is not excluded that the Turks compromise with the White House and promise to provide extra military aid for the war in Iraq if the White House agrees to put a veto on the resolution.
In a word, the White House will determine the fate of the resolution. The White House must decide-what will they get out of the resolution and what will they lose by putting the resolution on the political scale now?