BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  ACR 144|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  ACR 144
          Author:   Blumenfield (D), et al
          Amended:  4/19/10 in Assembly
          Vote:     21

           
          WITHOUT REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  Read and adopted 4/19/10


           SUBJECT :    Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month

           SOURCE  :     Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California
                      Jewish World Watch


           DIGEST  :    This resolution proclaims the month of April of  
          each year as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          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. 

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          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  :    Fiscal Com.:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  4/21/10)

          Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (co-source)
          Jewish World Watch (co-source)
          Genocide No More-Save Darfur
          San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition
          Stop Genocide Now

          OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  4/21/10)

          Turkish Peace and Justice Committee, California


          TSM:do  4/23/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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