BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  ACR 144
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 15, 2010

                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
                                Nancy Skinner, Chair
                  ACR 144 (Blumenfield) - As Amended:  April 8, 2010
           
          SUBJECT  :   Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month.

           SUMMARY  :   Proclaims the month of April of each year as Genocide  
          Awareness and Prevention Month.  Specifically,  this resolution   
          makes the following legislative findings:

          1)During the Second World War, Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer  
            of Jewish descent, motivated by the attempted extermination of  
            the Armenian and Assyrian communities during the First World  
            War, coined the term "genocide" to describe a coordinated plan  
            of actions aimed at the destruction of essential foundations  
            of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating a  
            group itself.  

          2)In 2008, the Prevention of Genocide Task Force, convened by  
            the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the American  
            Academy of Diplomacy, and the United State Institute of Peace,  
            issued a report finding that in order to prevent future  
            genocides and mass atrocities, effective prevention measures  
            must be implemented before a crisis has erupted, and that  
            educating the public can help to protect individual rights and  
            promote a culture of lawfulness that will help prevent future  
            genocides.  

          3)The State of California condemns, and desires to combat, all  
            acts of genocide; and educating the public about the evils of  
            genocide and commemorating victims of genocide, including the  
            adoption of a Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month, are  
            effective tools that will further these goals.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          Genocide No More-Save Darfur
          Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC)
          Jewish World Watch








                                                                  ACR 144
                                                                  Page  2

          San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition
          Stop Genocide Now (SGN)
           
          Opposition 
           
          Turkish Peace and Justice Committee, California
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Anna McCabe / RLS. / (916) 319-2800