BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AJR 34|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
          |327-4478                          |                              |
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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AJR 34
          Author:   Achadjian (R), et al.
          Amended:  4/12/16 in Assembly
          Vote:     21  

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR: Not available

           SUBJECT:   Armenian Genocide


          SOURCE:    Author


          DIGEST:  This resolution designates the year of 2016 as "State of  
          California Year of Commemoration of the 101st Anniversary of the  
          Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923," designates April 24, 2016, as  
          "State of California Day of Commemoration of the 101st  
          Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923," and calls  
          upon the President of the United States and the United States  
          Congress to formally and consistently reaffirm the historical  
          truth that the atrocities committed against the Armenian people  
          constituted genocide.
          ANALYSIS:  This resolution makes the following legislative  
          findings:


          1)Armenians have resided in Asia Minor and the Caucasus for  
            approximately four millennia, and have a long and rich history  
            in the region, including the establishment of many kingdoms,  
            and despite Armenians' historic presence, stewardship, and  
            autonomy in the region, Turkish rulers of the Ottoman Empire  
            and the Republic of Turkey subjected Armenians to severe and  
            unjust persecution and brutality, including wholesale  
            massacres beginning in the 1890s.









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          2)The Armenian nation was subjected to a systematic and  
            premeditated genocide officially beginning on April 24, 1915,  
            at the hands of the Young Turk Government of the Ottoman  
            Empire from 1915-1919 and continued at the hands of the  
            Kemalist Movement of Turkey from 1920-1923 whereby over 1.5  
            million Armenian men, women, and children were slaughtered or  
            marched to their deaths in an effort to annihilate the  
            Armenian nation in the first genocide of modern times, while  
            thousands of surviving Armenian women and children were  
            forcibly converted and Islamized, and hundreds of thousands  
            more were subjected to ethnic cleansing during the period of  
            the modern Republic of Turkey from 1924-1937.

          3)Unlike other people and governments that have admitted and  
            denounced the abuses and crimes of predecessor regimes, and  
            despite the Turkish government's earlier admissions and the  
            overwhelming proof of genocidal intent, the Republic of Turkey  
            inexplicably and adamantly has denied the occurrence of the  
            crimes against humanity committed by the Ottoman and Young  
            Turk rulers for many years, and continues to do so a full  
            century since the first crimes constituting genocide occurred.  
             Those denials compound the grief of the few remaining  
            survivors and deprive the surviving Armenian nation of its  
            individual and collective ancestral lands, property, cultural  
            heritage, financial assets, and population growth.

          4)California is home to the largest Armenian-American population  
            in the United States, and Armenians living in California have  
            enriched our state through their leadership and contribution  
            in business, agriculture, academia, government, and the arts,  
            many of whom have family members who experienced firsthand the  
            horror and evil of the Armenian Genocide and its ongoing  
            denial.

          5)The State of California has been at the forefront of  
            encouraging and promoting a curriculum relating to human  
            rights and genocide in order to empower future generations to  
            prevent the recurrence of genocide.

          6)The Armenian people, in this state and elsewhere, remain  
            resolved and their spirit continues to thrive more than a  
            century after their near annihilation.








                                                                     AJR 34  
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          This resolution:

          1)Designates the year of 2016 as "State of California Year of  
            Commemoration of the Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of  
            1915-1923" and in doing so, intends, through the enactment of  
            legislation, that the Armenian Genocide is properly  
            commemorated and taught to its citizens and visitors through  
            statewide educational and cultural events.

          2)Designates April 24, 2016, as "State of California Day of  
            Commemoration of the 101st Anniversary of the Armenian  
            Genocide of 1915-1923".

          3)Commends conscientious educators who teach about human rights  
            and genocide, and intends for them, through the enactment of  
            legislation, to continue to enhance their efforts to educate  
            students at all levels about the experience of the Armenians  
            and other crimes against humanity.

          4)Commends the extraordinary service which was delivered by Near  
            East Relief to the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and the  
            Assyrian Genocide, including thousands of direct beneficiaries  
            of American philanthropy who are the parents, grandparents,  
            and great-grandparents of many Californian Armenians and  
            Assyrians, and pledges its intent, through the enactment of  
            legislation, to working with community groups, nonprofit  
            organizations, citizens, state personnel, and the community at  
            large to host statewide educational and cultural events.

          5)Deplores the persistent, ongoing efforts by any person, in  
            this country or abroad, to deny the historical fact of the  
            Armenian Genocide.

          6)Calls upon the President of the United States and the United  
            States Congress to formally and consistently reaffirm the  
            historical truth that the atrocities committed against the  
            Armenian people constituted genocide.

          7)Calls on the President of the United States to work toward  
            equitable, constructive, stable, and durable Armenian-Turkish  
            relations.








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          Prior Legislation

          AJR 1 (Gatto, 2015) designates the week of April 18 to 24, 2015,  
          as "California Week of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of  
          1915-1923," commemorate the week of remembrance through the  
          Armenian Genocide Commemorative Project, calls upon Congress and  
          the President of the United States to recognize the atrocities  
          committed against the Armenian people, and calls upon the  
          Republic of Turkey to acknowledge the facts of the Armenian  
          Genocide and work toward a just resolution.  This resolution is  
          in the Assembly.

          AJR 41 (Calderon, Resolution Chapter 61, Statutes of 2014)  
          commended the extraordinary service delivered by Near East  
          Relief to the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and the  
          Assyrian Genocide.

          AJR 35 (J. Perez, Resolution Chapter 29, Statutes of 2014)  
          designated the week of April 20 to 26, 2014, as "California Week  
          of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923," and  
          memorialized the Congress and the President of the United States  
          to observe the California Week of Remembrance for the Armenian  
          Genocide by participating in the Armenian Genocide Commemorative  
          Project.

          SJR 21 (De León, Resolution Chapter 32, Statutes of 2014)  
          designated and encouraged the people of California to  
          commemorate the month of April 2014, as "California Month of  
          Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923," and called  
          upon the Congress and the President of the United States to act  
          likewise.

          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:NoLocal:    No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified4/15/16)


          None received









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          OPPOSITION:   (Verified4/15/16)


          None received





          Prepared by:  Jonas Austin / SFA / (916) 651-1520
          4/18/16 14:15:25


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