Thursday, April 10, 2003 Contact: Sean Oblack (202) 225-4176 Schiff Introduces Resolution To Recognize Armenian Genocide Radanovich-Schiff Resolution Marks 15th Anniversary of Armenian Convention WASHINGTON, DC - Marking the 15th year the United States Congress has taken a principled stand against genocide around the world, U.S. Representative Adam Schiff co-sponsored a resolution with Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA) recognizing the Armenian Genocide and reaffirming support for the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. "Let us not equivocate, let us not temporize or dissemble. Let us recognize the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians for what it was - genocide," Rep. Schiff said. "We must reaffirm today our national resolve to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the genocides in Cambodia and Rwanda, among others, will not be forgotten." In 1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust, the international community responded to Nazi Germany's methodically orchestrated acts of genocide by approving the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Convention confirms that genocide is a crime under international law and defines genocide as actions committed the with intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. The United States, under President Harry Truman, was the first nation to sign the Convention. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed an Act that implemented the Convention and criminalized genocide under U.S. law - putting the United States on record as being strongly opposed to the heinous crime of genocide. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the signing of that convention. The Radanovich-Schiff Resolution is introduced yearly to coincide with the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide - the extermination of more than 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Rep. Schiff took former Rep. David Bonior's position as a lead co-sponsor upon Rep. Bonior's retirement from Congress. "Let us pay homage to the memory of the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide and the genocides in Cambodia and Rwanda, among others, and honor the courage of the survivors," Rep. Schiff said. "In 1915, 1.5 million men, women and children were murdered for one reason and one reason alone - they were Armenian." Rep. Schiff represents California’s 29th Congressional District, including the communities of Alhambra, Altadena, Burbank, East Pasadena, East San Gabriel, Glendale, Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Gabriel, South Pasadena and Temple City.