Thursday, May 01, 2003 Contact: Sean Oblack (202) 225-4176 Schiff Calls On House Judiciary Committee To Take Up Armenian Genocide Resolution WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) today requesting Judiciary Committee action on the Armenian Genocide Resolution. Co-authored with Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA), Schiff wrote: Dear Chairman Sensenbrenner and Ranking Member Conyers: We are writing to ask for the Committee’s consideration of H. Res. 193. This bipartisan resolution reaffirms support of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in anticipation of theth anniversary of the enactment of the Genocide Convention Implementation Act of 1987. 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 with intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. As we prepare to mark the 15th anniversary of the U.S. becoming a full party to this landmark international human rights legislation, we must reaffirm our national resolve to ensure that the horrors of genocide are never again unleashed upon any group or nation. The United States, under President Harry Truman, was the first nation to sign the Convention, and it was ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1986. Following the Senate ratification of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Congress passed the Proxmire Act to implement the Convention and criminalize genocide under U.S. law. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Proxmire Act and put the United States on record as being strongly opposed to the heinous crime of genocide. The United States is fighting an unconventional enemy in the war on terrorism, and one against whom our overwhelming military might provides only one necessary weapon. Winning the war on terrorism will also require a level of moral clarity that can provide a vision for struggling people and nations everywhere. Only military force accompanied by an equally strong moral force will provide the essential combination to route out terrorism and prevent its reemergence. It is important that we call genocide, genocide. This bipartisan piece of legislation accomplishes this weighty goal and pays 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 honors the courage of the survivors. We greatly appreciate your attention to this request, and we hope that the Committee will consider this important piece of legislation. We look forward to working with you. Sincerely, ADAM B. SCHIFF                                 GEORGE RADANOVICH Member of Congress                            Member of Congress For a copy of the original letter, please call Elizabeth Alexander in Rep. Schiff's office at (202) 225-4176.