The Honorable Howard Berman, Chairman\t
\t
\nThe Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen , Ranking Member
\t
\nHouse Foreign Affairs Committee
\t
\nWashington DC<\/p>\n
March 2, 2010<\/p>\n
Dear Chairman Berman and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen: <\/p>\n
This week, your Committee will consider H. Res. 252, a non-binding resolution
\nthat seeks to establish our country ‘ s position on a frequently debated historical event that
\ntook place in the Ottoman Empire during World War 1. This legislation, while not legally
\nbinding, will have very real and meaningful consequences internationally. Approval of
\nthis resolution has potential to damage our relationship with an important NATO ally,
\nTurkey, Equally as concerning, it also threatens to undermine the current rapprochement
\nbetween Turkey and Armenia. <\/p>\n
The United States is currently facing extremely difficult times, and we all see and
\nhear the moving stories from Americans across the country, While we can and should
\ndebate the best ways to defeat extremism and help strengthen our struggling economy, we
\ncertainly should not be considering proposals that will only further damage our country
\nboth militarily and economically. <\/p>\n
Turkey plays an invaluable role in assisting our efforts to combat international
\nterrorism, In Afghanistan, Turkey has provided hundreds of millions of dollars for
\nreconstruction efforts and humanitarian aid and operates hospitals and schools that serve
\nhundreds of thousands of individuals. Turkey also has helped train members of the
\nAfghan National Police and the National Army, a vital task that will help transfer sole
\nsecurity responsibilities to the Afghan government. <\/p>\n
Economically, Turkey represents billions of dollars and thousands of American
\njobs to our country, In recent years the United States has exported more than $10 billion
\nworth of goods there annually and this number continues to grow, In addition to exports,
\nTurkish industries continue to grow and develop to the benefit of businesses in the United
\nStates in which they invest. Continuing to collaborate with Turkey economically will not
\nonly help to pull our nation out of recession, but ensure a partnership with a country that
\nwill play an increasingly larger role in the global economy in the years to come. <\/p>\n
More broadly, approving this resolution would adversely impact a wider range of
\nimportant U.S.-Turkish initiatives, such as promoting regional energy security, and
\nassisting in the Middle East peace process. So valued is this friendship that President
\nObama, during his first bilateral overseas European trip, described our relationship as a
\n“Model Partnership.” We fear this resolution will place a significant strain on that
\npartnership and on regional interests more generally. <\/p>\n
We also believe that H. Res. 252 will undermine the current rapprochement
\nbetween Ankara and Yerevan, and may permanently derail the restoration of diplomatic
\nties and normal relations between the two nations. For some time, the United States,
\nSwitzerland, and other members of the international community have actively been
\nsupporting the normalization process between Turkey and Armenia. Those efforts have
\nproduced significant positive movement over the last ten months. Once ratified, these
\nprotocols will establish diplomatic relations, open common borders and foster commerce
\nbetween these neighbors. These protocols are presently before both parliaments for
\nratification, so this process is at a sensitive stage. It would not serve U.S. interests to take
\nany action which could jeopardize these positive developments. <\/p>\n
A vote on this resolution will do nothing to rectify the tragedies of the past, but it
\nwill most certainly have significant negative consequences on current and future relations
\nwith Turkey. We respectfully, but strongly urge you to reject this measure. <\/p>\n
Sincerely, <\/p>\n
Ed Whitfield, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Steve Cohen, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Kay Granger, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Michael E. McMahon, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Alcee L. hasting, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Virginia Foxx, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Ike Skelton, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Bill Shuster, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Jean Schmidt, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Roy Blunt, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
John S. Tanner, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Dan Burton, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Eddie Bernice Johnson, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Rodney Alexander, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
C. A. Dutch Ruppersburger, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Heath Shuler, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Pete Sessions, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Pete Olson, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
John Boozman, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Jeb Hensarling, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, Member of Congress<\/p>\n
Christopher P. Carney, Member of Congress <\/p>\n
ACTION YOU CAN TAKE RIGHT NOW: <\/p>\n
1) Please send your comments to your elected representatives via TCA by clicking on this link: <\/p>\n
2) Also, if you have a few minutes, please send the \u201cDear Colleague\u201d letter above to one or more of the the following media. Thank you: <\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.upi.com\/Top_News\/Special\/2010\/03\/01\/US-measure-on-Armenia-angers-Turkey\/UPI-71831267460766\/<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2010\/03\/02\/AR2010030202375.html?hpid=opinionsbox1<\/p>\n
br><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/archives\/la-xpm-2010-mar-01-la-na-armenian1-2010mar01-story.html <\/p>\n
https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/house\/62771-pro-turkey-lawmakers-gather-opposition-to-genocide-resolution\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Honorable Howard Berman, Chairman The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen , Ranking Member House Foreign Affairs Committee Washington DC March 2, 2010 Dear Chairman Berman and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen: This week, your Committee will consider H. Res. 252, a non-binding resolution that seeks to establish our country ‘ s position on a frequently debated historical event […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":783838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,41],"tags":[2654,2653,1099,151,2223,2650,1423,2649,1105,2656,204,2648,2651,2652,2655,1098],"class_list":["post-17282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-armenia","category-azerbaijan","tag-6-ts","tag-dadrian","tag-ethocide","tag-genocide","tag-gustav-arellano","tag-h-res-252","tag-hovannissian","tag-hr-252","tag-jda","tag-minsk","tag-nagorno-karabakh","tag-protocols","tag-resolution","tag-samantha-power","tag-six-ts","tag-tereset"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}