ONLY OPTION FOR US ADMINISTRATION IN APPOINTING US AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA IS TO WAIT UNTIL CONGRESS GOES OUT OF SESSION
Arminfo
2007-05-04 12:29:00
The only option for the US Administration in appointing US Ambassador
to Armenia is to wait for congress recess, a source representing
Democratic Party in US Senate has told an ArmInfo correspondent.
The individual who is nominated to serve as US ambassador to Armenia
is a career diplomat Richard Hoagland who previously served as US
ambassador to Tajikistan. In the course of his nomination he was
asked a number of questions concerning the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide. A number of members of Congress believe that the atrocities
and the acts of violence against the Armenian population of Ottoman
Empire that took place at the end of Ottoman Empire between 1915-1918
clearly constitute genocide. The US State Department, for variety of
reasons, does not deny that they were genocide but neither do they
affirm that those actions were genocide. And there were individuals
especially in the Armenian American community who raised concern
in regards to some of the answers Ambassador Hoagland provided to
members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The members of the Committee asked questions about it and they believe
that he would not be an appropriate representative of the United States
as a result of his failure to recognize the genocide, says the source.
Now, we believe that the US policy on the issue is a wrong policy but
we also understand that at the end of the hearing the members of the
Committee discovered that Ambassador Hoagland served the pleasure of
the US Government and cannot go outside the US policy. There were
other senators on the Committee who made it very clear that they
were unhappy with the US policy; still at the end of the hearing they
voted for his nomination to be sent forward to the full Senate.
However, the Armenian American community, which is very active,
lobbied very hard for Senator Robert Menendez and the other senators to
oppose his nomination. "At the moment the whole process is frozen. It
is not going anywhere and I don’t think that there is a chance that
it will go anywhere. The only option that will be available for the
administration is to do what is called a recess appointment, which is
to wait until the Congress goes out of session and appoint Mr. Hoagland
to this post. He then can serve for a short period of time prior to
coming before the Senate for full confirmation," says the source.
He notes that it is very unusual for career members of the
foreign service to be recess appointed. "So, I don’t think that
the administration is inclined to do that in this case," says the
source. He notes that this is the only option that will be available
for the administration to bring the current nomination to pass or
the administration will have to send a new nominee.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
