BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 7
Author: Charles Calderon (D), et al.
Amended: 4/14/11 in Assembly
Vote: 21
WITHOUT REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE OR FILE
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Read and adopted, 4/14/11
SUBJECT : Armenian Genocide
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution designates the week of April 18
to 24, 2011, as California Week of Remembrance for the
Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923," and memorializes 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.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following
legislative findings:
1. The Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 was the first
genocide of the 20th century, in which 1.5 million men,
women, and children lost their lives at the hands of the
Turkish Ottoman Empire.
2. In their 3,000 year historic homeland in Asia Minor,
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Armenians were subjected to severe and unjust
persecution and brutality by the Turkish rulers of the
Ottoman Empire before and after the turn of the 20th
century, including widespread acts of destruction and
murder during the period from 1894 to 1896, inclusive,
and again in 1909.
3. The massacre of the Armenians constituted one of the
most atrocious violations of human rights in the history
of the world.
4. Adolph Hitler, in persuading his army commanders that
the merciless persecution and killing of Jews, Poles,
and other people would bring no retribution, declared,
"Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the
Armenians?".
5. Unlike other people and governments that have admitted
and denounced the abuses and crimes of predecessor
regimes, and despite the overwhelming proof of genocidal
intent, the Republic of Turkey has inexplicably and
adamantly denied the occurrence of the crimes against
humanity committed by the Ottoman and Young Turk rulers,
and those denials compound the grief of the few
remaining survivors of the atrocities, desecrate the
memory of the victims, and cause continuing pain to the
descendants of the victims.
6. Leaders of nations with strategic, commercial, and
cultural ties to the Republic of Turkey should be
reminded of their duty to encourage Turkish officials to
cease efforts to distort facts and deny the history of
events surrounding the Armenian Genocide.
7. The accelerated level and scope of denial and
revisionism, coupled with the passage of time and the
fact that very few survivors remain who can serve as
reminders of indescribable brutality and tormented
lives, compel a sense of urgency in efforts to solidify
recognition of historical truth.
8. By consistently remembering and forcefully condemning
the atrocities committed against the Armenians, and
honoring the survivors as well as other victims of
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similar heinous conduct, we guard against repetition of
such acts of genocide and provide the American public
with a greater understanding of its heritage.
9. Provides that the Legislature deplores the persistent,
ongoing efforts by any person in this country or abroad
to deny the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide.
10.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 in business, agriculture, academia,
government, and the arts.
11.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 recurrence of the crime genocide.
This resolution declares the week of April 18 to 24, 2011,
as "California Week of Remembrance for the Armenian
Genocide of 1915-1923."
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
PQ:mw 4/14/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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