WASHINGTON, DC – A letter seeking U.S. House cosponsors for a renewed drive to secure the adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution was circulated today on Capitol Hill by the legislation’s lead authors, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) and George Radanovich (R-CA), and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and Mark Kirk (R-IL), reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“We join today with millions of Armenians throughout the United States, in Armenia, and around the world in welcoming the launch of this new drive toward U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “It’s always the right time to take a stand against genocide. Now – with longstanding advocates of this noble and necessary cause in the White House, leading the State Department, serving in the Cabinet, heading up both Houses of Congress, and chairing key Congressional committees – we are set to overcome the final barriers to full and formal U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide.”

In the letter, the four legislators invited their House colleagues to join the resolution as original cosponsors, which will mean that they will be listed as supporters starting from the day of its introduction. During the recently concluded 110th Congress, an identical measure secured the support of 212 cosponsors, was adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee, but was eventually blocked from a vote on the House floor by sustained attacks by then-President George W. Bush and his Administration.

In urging early support for this human rights measure, the four lead sponsors noted that, “By properly acknowledging the Armenian Genocide, we reaffirm the willingness of the U.S. to speak plainly about genocide, and renew our commitment to prevent other occurrences of man’s inhumanity to man.”

The Armenian Genocide Resolution reaffirms the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide by ensuring 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.