BILL NUMBER: AJR 31 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Aghazarian and Steinberg
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Cogdill and Matthews)
(Coauthors: Senators Denham and Poochigian)
APRIL 23, 2003
Assembly Joint Resolution No. 31--Relative to Assyrians in Iraq.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 31, as introduced, Aghazarian. Assyrians in Iraq.
This measure would declare that it is a matter of urgent and
enduring importance that Assyrians be given a seat of recognition at
the table during negotiations regarding the postconflict
restructuring in Iraq and would memorialize California's Senators and
Members of the House of Representatives to take all prudent and
necessary steps to ensure that this matter is addressed at the
highest levels of the federal government.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, Assyrians are a Semitic people indigenous to Mesopotamia
and are a people distinct from Arabs and Jews; and
WHEREAS, By 2500 B.C., three Assyrian cities were well established
and thriving metropoli, including Nineveh, where eminent British
archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan in 1932 dug up a pottery sequence
showing it to be inhabited by 5000 B.C., Arbel, the oldest extant
city, and Ashur; and
WHEREAS, This period around 5000 to 2500 B.C. saw the development
of the fundamentals of civilization, including animal domestication,
agriculture, pottery, controllable fire in kilns, and smelting. The
Assyrian city of Arbel was one of the very earliest permanent
agricultural settlements; and
WHEREAS, Between 4500 and 2400 B.C., as complex societies began to
appear among Sumerians and in other parts of Mesopotamia, including
Assyria, in the form of cities, with craft specialization and
writing, Assyrian settlements became large and guarded by
fortification walls, which implies the risk of attack and the need
for defense and warfare; and
WHEREAS, In 1813 B.C., Assyrian political coherence was clearly in
existence. King Shamshi-Adad I established the early Assyrian
Empire, and laid the foundation of the Middle Assyrian Empire in 1365
B.C.; and
WHEREAS, The years 745 to 727 B.C. marked the beginning of the
greatest expansion of the Assyrian empire with Tiglath-Pileser III.
Through a series of able kings, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon,
and Ashurbnaipal, Assyria would extend its rule over a vast area,
from Egypt up to Cyprus to the west, through Anatolia, to the Caspian
region in the east; and
WHEREAS, The Assyrian empires, particularly the Neo-Assyrian
(912-612 B.C.), had a profound and lasting impact on the Near East.
Before Assyrian hegemony would come to an end, the Assyrians would
bring the highest civilization then known to the world. From the
Caspian region to Cyprus, from Anatolia to Egypt, Assyrian imperial
expansion would bring into the Assyrian sphere nomadic and barbaric
communities and would bestow the gift of civilization upon them; and
WHEREAS, Today we are far removed from that time, yet some of our
most basic and fundamental devices of daily survival, to which we
have become so accustomed that we cannot conceive of life without
them, originated in Assyria. One cannot imagine leaving his or her
home without locking the door; it is in Assyria where locks and keys
were first used. One cannot survive in this world without knowing
the time; it is in Assyria that the sexagesimal system of keeping
time was developed. One cannot imagine driving without paved roads;
it is in Assyria where paved roads were first used. Other
developments originating in Assyria include the first postal system,
the first use of iron, the first magnifying glasses, the first
libraries, the first plumbing and flush, the first electric
batteries, the first guitars, the first aqueducts, and the first
arch; and
WHEREAS, Not only things originated in Assyria, but also ideas
that would shape the world to come, including the idea of imperial
administration, of dividing the land into territories administered by
local governors who report to the central authority, the King of
Assyria. This fundamental model of administration has survived to
this day, as can be seen in America's federal-state system; and
WHEREAS, It is in Assyria that civilization itself was developed
and handed down to future generations. It is here where the first
steps in the cultural unification of the Middle East were taken by
bringing under Assyrian rule the diverse groups in the area, from
Iran to Egypt, breaking down ethnic and national barriers and
preparing the way for the cultural unification that facilitated the
subsequent spread of Hellenism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; and
WHEREAS, In the 20th century, Assyrians have suffered massive
genocide, have lost control of their ancestral lands, and are in a
struggle for survival. The Assyrian nation today stands at a
crossroad. One-third of its population is in a diaspora, while the
remaining two-thirds of the population lives perilously in its native
lands; and
WHEREAS, In spite of the struggle for survival, the Assyrian
Levies have performed heroic acts fighting on the Asian, European,
and African fronts from after World War I until 1955, including a
victory over the pro-German rebel forces backed by the Iraqi
government that prevented the oil fields from falling into the hands
of Nazi Germany in the early stages of World War II, thereby
guaranteeing the continuous oil supply for the Allies in the Middle
East; and
WHEREAS, In 1955, the Assyrian Levy was dismantled and the force
was integrated in the Iraqi Army. The Assyrians withdrew in
isolation. With the coming of the Arab national parties to power in
Iraq since 1963, the oppression of the Assyrians became visible and
obvious; and
WHEREAS, In the late 1970s, the Assyrian private schools were
closed, and teaching the Syriac language of the Assyrians was
prohibited. In the 1977 and 1987 Iraqi general census, the Assyrians
were prohibited from registering as Assyrians and were given the
option of registering as Arabs or Kurds only; and
WHEREAS, In 1981, as the Iraq-Iran War commenced, many Assyrian
families in Iraq were deported to Iran. These families were forced
to leave their homes and properties behind. The Iraqi government
deported these families despite the fact that members of these
families were born in Iraq; and
WHEREAS, Since 1985, many Assyrian villages and ancient churches
and monasteries have been destroyed; and
WHEREAS, After the 1991 Gulf War, the Assyrians in northern Iraq
began to face acts of aggression, assassination, and intimidation.
Other ethnic groups were encouraged to move and live in purely
Assyrian villages in order to change the demographic picture of the
purely Assyrian regions. Many acts of assassination against Assyrian
priests and political leaders took place, rape cases against
Assyrian young women increased, and attacks on Assyrian villages were
reported. None of the perpetrators were brought to justice even
when the criminals were identified; and
WHEREAS, With continued attempts by the Iraqi opposition to
marginalize legitimate Assyrian representation in ongoing
deliberations about the future of Iraq, three Members of the United
States Congress have sent a terse letter to the United States State
Department expressing concern about the undemocratic nature of the
Iraqi National Assembly meetings. The bipartisan letter was
spearheaded by the Honorable Rod Blagojevich (D-Illinois) and
cosigned by the Honorable Anna Eshoo, (D-California), an Assyrian,
and the Honorable Frank Wolf (R-Virginia); and
WHEREAS, An estimated 350,000 Assyrians have migrated to the
United States, many of them concentrated in the Turlock-Modesto-Ceres
areas and in Detroit and Chicago. They brought with them farming
and business skills, entrepreneurial ideas, capital, and their
religious heritage; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and Senate of the State of California,
jointly, That, considering the ancestral history of the Assyrians in
Iraq, it is a matter of urgent and enduring importance that
Assyrians be given a seat of recognition at the table during
negotiations regarding the postconflict restructuring in Iraq; and be
it further
Resolved, That California's Senators and Members of the House of
Representatives should take all prudent and necessary steps to ensure
that this matter is addressed at the highest levels of our federal
government; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the United States Secretary of State, and to each Senator
and Representative from California in the Congress of the United
States.