WASHINGTON, DC – Legislators returning to Washington, DC after the summer recess were greeted this week by new additions to the coalition supporting the Congressional resolution marking the 15th anniversary of the U.S. implementation of the Genocide Convention, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The American Values Coalition, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the International Human Rights Law Group were the latest to add their names to the over ninety member coalition of ethnic, religious, civil and human rights organizations in support of the anti-genocide resolutions before the House and Senate.

“We appreciate Gary Bauer’s support and are deeply gratified that American Values, the NCLR and IHRLG have joined the growing and increasingly diverse coalition in support of the Genocide Resolution,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “Working together we will reaffirm the values of the Genocide Convention and apply the lessons of past genocides to help prevent future crimes against humanity.”

American Values is led by Gary Bauer, a 2000 Republican presidential contender and former Domestic Policy Advisor to President Ronald Reagan. Prior to running for President, Gary Bauer was instrumental in the founding and development of two of America’s most prominent conservative groups, the Campaign for Working Families and the Family Research Council. Bauer served in President Ronald Reagan’s Administration for eight years, during the last two years as President Reagan’s Chief Domestic Policy Advisor. A frequent guest on a wide variety of political talk shows and a much-in-demand speaker nationwide, Bauer is widely viewed as one of the most effective spokesman for conservative causes.

NCLR is the largest constituency-based national Hispanic organization, serving all Hispanic nationality groups in all regions of the country. NCLR has over 270 formal affiliates who together serve 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia and a broader network of more than 30,000 groups and individuals nationwide reaching more than three and a half million Hispanics annually.

The International Human Rights Law Group is a non-profit organization of human rights and legal professionals from over 20 countries engaged in advocacy, strategic human rights lawyering and training around the world. Their mission is to empower local advocates to expand the scope of human rights protections and to promote broad participation in building human rights standards and procedures at the national, regional and international levels.

Representatives George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) introduced the Genocide Resolution in the U.S. House on April 10th. With 110 cosponsors, the legislation (H.Res.193) was unanimously adopted by the Judiciary Committee on May 21st and currently awaits consideration by the full House. Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ) introduced the Senate version of the resolution (S.Res.164), which currently has 34 co-sponsors. Both the Senate and House versions specifically cite the Armenian Genocide as well as the Holocaust and the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides as instances of past genocide.