Author: Andranik Taslakhchian

PanArmenian News
March 30 2005
ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER EXPLAINED WHAT CONCESSIONS ARMENIA CAN MAKE
ON KARABAKH CONFLICT
30.03.2005 04:55
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `It is obvious for me that the settlement of the
Karabakh conflict can be resolved peacefully, on the basis of
concessions’, Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sargsian stated during
the parliamentary hearings with the subject `Nagorno Karabakh
problem: Ways of Settlement’, Armenpress agency reports. The Minister
explained what concessions the Armenian party can make. `As a
principal concession we consider the fact that Armenian has not
recognized the Nagorno Karabakh Republic so far, though the NKR was
formed in accord with law and exists as an independent democratic
state for many years. It is the demonstration of good will to
preserve the process of peaceful settlement within the frames of the
OSCE Minsk Group’, S. Sargsian noted. As the second concession the
Minister named the item of the CE resolution 1416, which says that
the territory’s (i.e. Nagorno Karabakh) independence of the state
(i.e. Azerbaijan) can be achieved only via a legal and peaceful
process of democratic will of the population of the given territory.
In this context Serge Sargsian pointed out to the proposal of NATO PA
President Pierre Lellouche on conduction of a referendum among the
population of the former Nagorno Karabakh autonomy on the issue of
democratic self-determination of Nagorno Karabakh. Touching upon the
third concession Serge Sargsian noted that negotiations can be held
on the security zone. `I am not the adherent of returning the
territories forming the security belt. But I think that via
negotiations we can make certain concessions under the term that the
Azeri party will provide guarantees of non-resumption of war, which
will be confirmed by the guarantees of authoritative international
organizations and states’, Serge Sargsian stressed.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA THIS WEEK
Monday, March 21, 2005
In this issue:
Senate hearing highlights demand for Genocide affirmation
U.S. praises Armenia for assistance on attempted smuggling case
New Armenian ambassador to the U.S. appointed
Oskanian speaks on human rights, Genocide and Karabakh
SENATE HEARING HIGHLIGHTS DEMANDS FOR U.S. AFFIRMATION OF ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE
Senator George Allen (R-VA), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Subcommittee for Europe, has dismissed claims that U.S. affirmation
of the Armenian Genocide should be avoided due to Turkish
“sensitivity” towards the subject. Speaking during the hearings on
“The Future of Democracy in the Black Sea Area” held on March 8,
Allen said that while the U.S. wants good relations with Turkey, that
does not mean that Washington is “willing to sweep history under the
rug.” “The basis of a truly enduring and reliable U.S.-Turkey
relationship is the truth… It is past time for America to affirm
the historical record and recognize the Armenian Genocide,” he
stressed.
Former Department of Defense official Bruce Jackson who, as President
of the Project on Transitional Democracies, works closely with the
newly independent states of Eurasia, testified at the same hearing
and declared in a statement for the record: “Just because Turkish
officials become indignant at the mention of a genocide campaign
conducted by Ottoman authorities against Armenian civilians in the
early years of the last century does not mean that coming to terms
with history should not be discussed between democratic allies. If
we are to succeed where democracy is at risk, we must be clear in
what we say and do.”
Senior U.S. officials, including the late President Ronald Reagan,
have affirmed the Armenian Genocide, and President George W. Bush has
used a textbook definition of the crime in his annual commemorative
statements, but under pressure from Turkey, the U.S. does not
officially refer to the deaths of over a million Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey as genocide. While denying the Armenian Genocide, senior
Turkish officials have accused the U.S. and Israel of “genocide” in
Iraq and Palestine, respectively. Last week, in what is seen as a
sign of continued difficulties in relations, the U.S. Ambassador to
Turkey Eric Edelman resigned from his post. (Sources: AAA Press
Release 3-11; Agence France Presse 3-18)
ARMENIA ASSISTS U.S. IN ATTEMPTED ARMS SMUGGLING CASE
U.S. officials have praised the Armenian government for its help in
investigation of attempted arms smuggling from one or more former
Soviet republics. “The Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
appreciates the professionalism and active cooperation of the
Armenian authorities,” FBI’s legal attaché to the Caucasus Bryan
Paarmann was quoted as saying in a U.S. Embassy to Armenia statement
last Friday.
The FBI last week arrested 18 people, including citizens of Armenia,
Georgia and South Africa on suspicion of seeking to import
Soviet-made weapons, including missile and grenade launchers, into
the United States. The individuals reportedly approached a South
African businessman and explosives expert with offers to obtain the
weapons, while the individual in turn informed the FBI, leading to a
year-long investigation. One of the Armenian citizens arrested,
26-year-old Artur Solomonyan, was in the U.S. illegally and is also
wanted in Armenia on charges of draft evasion. He is now facing up to
30 years in a U.S. prison.
Both the U.S. and Armenian officials stressed that no weapons
actually entered the United States from Armenia. But Solomonyan was
able to obtain pictures of the weapons he claimed he could smuggle to
the U.S. Armenia’s Deputy National Security Director Hrachya
Harutiunian reported last Friday that three individuals were detained
in Armenia on suspicion of involvement in the case. The detained
include an individual who allegedly acquired pictures of the weapons
on Solomonyan’s request, but did not have access to weapons
themselves. FBI’s Paarmann told local reporters that Armenia “takes
the [attempted smuggling] seriously” and is not a country from where
arms can be easily smuggled. (Sources: AP 3-15; Regnum.ru 3-17;
Arminfo 3-21; Mediamax 3-21)
NEW ARMENIAN ENVOY TO U.S. APPOINTED
President Robert Kocharian has appointed Deputy Foreign Minister
Tatul Margarian to be Armenia’s new Ambassador to the United States,
the Foreign Ministry reported over the weekend. Margarian replaces
Ambassador Arman Kirakossian who has completed his five-year tour. In
a farewell message issued two weeks ago, Kirakossian noted that
“U.S.-Armenia relations have strengthened and expanded greatly within
the last five years.” Highlighting the growing security and
commercial ties, Kirakossian added that “in part, the quality of our
bilateral relations today reflects an Armenia that is more stable,
economically dynamic, and confident domestically than it was five
years ago.”
Margarian will be Armenia’s third Ambassador to the United States
since independence in 1991. Since 2000 Margarian served as Deputy
Foreign Minister in charge of international security issues and from
2002-2003, he was also the President’s special envoy for Karabakh.
Born in 1964 in Kapan in Armenia’s southern Syunik province,
Margarian previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission in the United
States (1994-98) and as advisor to the Foreign Minister (1999-2000).
He holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the Johns
Hopkins University in Washington, DC and PhD in Economics from the
Yerevan Institute of National Economy. (Sources: Armenian Embassy in
U.S. Press Release 3-7; Mediamax 3-19)
A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
122 C Street, N.W., Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20001 (202) 393-3434
FAX (202) 638-4904
E-Mail [email protected] WEB
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan’s speech
at the UN Commission on Human Rights [excerpts]
March 15, 2005
Geneva
Mr. Chairman, […]
For Armenians, the human rights principle, the concept of man’s
inalienable rights touches a raw nerve. We lived the greatest part of
the last century under a regime that endured solely because of the
absence of human rights, civil liberties and freedoms. […]
After living, as I said, under an ideologically different helmet only
fourteen years ago, our domestic experience has been difficult and
sometimes bumpy. We have learned to believe less in snap changes, we
have our reasons to be skeptical of revolutions, we know that smooth
public relations do not last as long as decent human relations.
Therefore, as last year, so next year, we will continue to build on
our successes, through evolutionary, incremental ways: poverty
reduction, protecting the rights of conscientious objectors and
religious sects, reforming the judicial system, strengthening
political diversity and free expression, protecting and promoting the
rights of women and children, fighting human traffickers.
As for Genocide, Mr. Chairman, it is the ultimate manifestation of
the violation of human rights. This year marks the 90th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide. Two-thirds of the Armenian population
perished between 1915 and 1918. As a minority, living in the Ottoman
Empire, their call for the application of the lofty principles of
liberty, equality and fraternity, led to their death sentence. Today,
their survivors, living within and outside the Republic of Armenia
expect that the world¹s avowal of the universality of those same
noble principles will lead to recognition that Genocide was committed
against Armenians.
Ninety years after the event, we still live with the memory of
suffering unrelieved by strong condemnation and unequivocal
recognition. In this we are not alone. The catharsis that victims
deserve and societies require in order to heal and move forward
together, obliges me to appeal to the international community to call
things by their name, to remove the veil of obfuscation, of double
standards, of political expediency.
Very recently, at the highest levels, the Turkish leadership called
for a historical debate. They suggested that historians from Turkey
and Armenia go thru archives and sort out this issue. My immediate
response that Armenia would not participate in a historical debate
was interpreted as rejection of dialogue.
Let’s not confuse the two kinds of dialogue. One is a debate about
history. The other is a political discussion. Periodic calls by
various Turkish administrations for historical debate simply delay
the process of reconciling with the truth. The facts are clear. The
historical record is clear. We know well what happened to our
forebears. Even in the first days of the Turkish Republic, the local
Turkish authorities who had actually carried out the genocidal acts
were tried and found guilty by their own Turkish courts. The Turks
themselves, for their own reasons, put aside that historical record
and moved away from that honest, dignified approach to one of denial
and rejection. Turkey owes the world’s generation that recognition so
we move forward. […]
A financially bankrupt government is turned over to international
organizations until it reforms and renounces its wrongs. Can we
tolerate any less of a government which is morally bankrupt? Do we
want successive generations to believe that genocide is inevitable in
each generation, on each continent? Can we allow governments to
commit such massive violence against their own people? How can we
explain why a report on Threats Challenges and Change must consider
genocide a threat, even at the beginning of the 21st century?
Finally, the third human rights issue is that of the
self-determination of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. Ironically,
Mr. Chairman, even as societies have learned to support the victims
of domestic violence, we have not yet graduated to offering the same
support to victims of international or government violence. At best,
the world watches silently as the victims attempt to defend
themselves, and if somehow, against great odds, they succeed, then
the world quickly pulls back, as the state loudly cries foul and
claims sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Just as the perpetrator of domestic violence loses the moral right to
custody, so does a government that commits and promotes violence
against its own citizens lose its rights. It is in such instances
that the notion of self-determination is significant and legitimate.
This is exactly what happened to the people of Nagorno Karabakh
during the days of the collapse of the USSR when they opted,
peacefully, for self-determination. The government of Azerbaijan
immediately not only rejected the peaceful dialogue but resorted
immediately to forceful suppression of those aspirations. Azerbaijan
continued to militarily respond. At one point, the people of Nagorno
Karabakh were on the verge of annihilation had there not been the
last minute mobilization and their determination to fight for their
lives, homes and their homeland. Today the government of Azerbaijan
has lost the moral right to even suggest providing for their security
and their future, let alone to talk of custody of the people of
Nagorno Karabakh.
Mr. Chairman, for us, defense and protection of human rights is not
an abstract principle. It is the difference between survival and
annihilation. We believe it is the same for many in the world. Yet,
our individual and collective tendency is to ignore or neglect
problems for which we have no immediate answer or prospect for
solution. This is even more true in situations which defy belief,
surpass common norms, and shake our very assumptions and values. For
these very reasons, in our ever-shrinking world, what is required is
resolve on the part of the committed in order to expand the
engagement of those still hesitant.
–Boundary_(ID_hMVsBzpD9wcl2mdMaQwzbg)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkish Armenians to talk to parliamentary committee about genocide issue
Anatolia news agency
17 Mar 05
ANKARA
Turkish Parliamentary EU Adjustment Committee will listen to the views
of members of Armenian community living in Turkey pertaining to
allegations of genocide.
Gunduz Aktan, a retired ambassador, and Etiyen Mahcupyan and Hrant
Dink, members of the Armenian community, will attend the meeting which
will be held in the parliament on April 5th.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Syria comes to terms with the `Cedar Revolution’
The Independent – United Kingdom;
Mar 02, 2005
Robert Fisk Middle East Correspondent

THEY SLEPT in tents. They slept on the pavements last night. Lebanon
is cold in winter. Not as cold as Ukraine but the frost that has lain
over Lebanon these past 29 years is without temperature. Never has the
red, white and green Lebanese flag been used as so poignant a symbol
of unity. Only a few hundred metres away from the encampment, Rafik
Hariri was killed. And so, the Lebanese are supposed to believe, the
murder of the former prime minister has unleashed the “Cedars
Revolution”. The cedar tree stands at the centre of the Lebanese flag.
With the resignation of the pro-Syrian Lebanese government, the
equally pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud was looking last night for a
“caretaker” government – without much success. Hariri’s sister Bahiya,
an MP in Sidon, was not interested in being Lebanon’s first woman
prime minister, and the elderly Rashid el-Solh didn’t want the job,
despite his Lebanese aristocratic origins. The dearth of contenders
showed how tragic the Lebanese body politic has become.
It is still not clear whether the rubric “Cedars Revolution” started
in Beirut or in the mouth of a US State Department spokesman but its
implications are still clear enough: the Syrian army must go and –
more important – the Syrian army’s intelligence service must leave
Lebanon.
Hence everyone is waiting to see if a “caretaker” government will care
for Lebanon or for Syria, whose protege, General Lahoud, is now the
lonely man in the Baabda presidential palace in the hills above
Beirut.
Today, the “opposition” – Christian Maronites, Sunni Muslims and Druze
though not, to be frank, many Shia Muslims – will gather at the palace
of the Jumblatt family in the Chouf mountains at Mukhtara where Walid
Jumblatt, the new would-be tiger of Lebanese freedom, has ensconced
himself for his own protection. No recent member of the Jumblatt
family has died in his bed, indeed, it was Walid’s claim that the
Syrian Baathists murdered his father, Kamal ,in 1977 that set off this
unprecedented revolution in the Arab world.
The Lebanese people, according to Walid Jumblatt, have struck down the
Syrian-sponsored Lebanese government. The Lebanese people want the
truth: Who killed Rafik Hariri?
“One voice …. one flag …” Mr Jumblatt said yesterday. He wanted
“the removal of foreign elements (sic) from Lebanon” and the end of
“foreign interference” in Lebanese affairs.
But neither Walid Jumblatt nor the Lebanese are naive. They know US
support for Lebanese “democracy” is fuelled by Washington’s anger at
Syria’s alleged support for the insurgency against US troops in Iraq.
Mr Jumblatt himself showed his own feelings about the US involvement
in Iraq when he said last year that he wished a mortar fired at the
hotel in which US Assistant Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was
staying in Baghdad had hit Wolfowitz himself.
That remark cost Jumblatt a US visa. Mr Bush wants Hizbollah
guerrillas to disarm. So do the Israelis. Indeed, the Israelis want
the Syrian army and intelligence service to leave Lebanon.
So the Lebanese opposition are demanding the very same goals as the
Israelis. But Mr Jumblatt wants to protect Hizbollah – which finally
drove the Israeli army out of Lebanon in 2000: “We’ve got to engage
with Hizbollah,” he said yesterday. “They are Lebanese.” And he also
sent a message to Damascus: “We should speak frankly to the
Syrians. We want them to leave Lebanon. But we want good relations
with the Syrians.”
But here lies the problem. Syria will always be Lebanon’s larger Arab
neighbour. Its Muslims and Christians live together today on the
scales of a dark negative. The Christians will not demand control of a
country if the Muslims do not claim to be part of an “Arab
nation”. But if a `liberated’ Lebanon – a la Washington – declared
itself for “the West”, then the country could fall apart; as it did in
the 1975-1990 civil war.
It is tempting for the Lebanese camping on “Liberation Square” as they
call it, to believe they are part of a great movement for
democracy. But Lebanon has always been betrayed by foreign
cheerleaders.
Last night, even Selim el-Hoss, many times a former prime minister and
one of the few truly honest politicians in Lebanon, made it known he
did not want to lead a caretaker government. So here’s a question that
no one asks too directly in Lebanon: What is the future of Rustum
Ghazali?
“Amu Rustum” is the head of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon –
he lives in the largely Armenian town of Aanjar in the Bekaa Valley
and has remained silent these past three weeks, even though President
Bashar Assad of Syria has condemned Rafik Hariri’s murder.
It would be good to hear from “Amu Rustum”. Mr Hariri, in the months
before his death, received an abusive phone call from General Ghazali.
What was said?
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE KURDISH STATE WILL EMERGE – IF USA IS WILLING
Azg/arm
4 Feb 05
The Iraqi parliamentary elections were launched to set a national
assembly of 275 lawmakers that would choose a president and two
vice-presidents of the country from among its members and the latter
would chose a prime minister.The primary task of the would-be national
assembly is to prepare a draft constitution that will be voted on
October 15.
In case the constitution passes new parliamentary elections will be
held in Iraq on December 15 that will form the executive and the
legislature on the constitutional basis.
In other words the elections are important as regards the Iraqi
constitution and the constitution is vital for Iraq’s political
future. If the Iraqi constitution turns Iraqi state into federation
that will put the country onthe edge of falling apart.
A referendum held along with the elections on January 30 in 4 Kurdish
cities of Northern Iraq showed that 99.5 percent of population demands
independence. Masut Barzani, president of Democratic Party of
Kurdistan, made an interesting statement regarding Kurdish
population’s orientation. Turkish Yeni Shafaq newspaper informed on
January 31 that Barzani met journalists in Salahaddinwhere he stated
that there is no such question if a Kurdish state will be created but
when will it be created. `Kirkuk’s identity is Kurdish.Neither Turkey
nor any other state has the right to draw conclusions about Kirkuk or
any other Iraqi state’.
Barzani’s words caused Turkey’s active confrontation. Chairman of
Turkish parliament, Byulent Arnc, called Barzani arrogant noting that
the American has petted him. Apparently Arnc’s words missed the point
as Barzani made his second statement on February 3: `Independence is
inevitable; demand for independence is the most natural right of
Kurdish people’. A Kurdish politician and foreign minister of Iraqi
temporary government, Khoshyar Zebar, added to Barzani’s words:
`Hopefully the Iraqi Kurdistan will become Europe’s neighbor in near
future’.
Regardless of Barzani’s and Zebar’s views, America’s position and
plans for Iraq’s reconstruction will be decisive. Turkish foreign
minister Abdullah Gul who is paying an official visit to China
declared in Beijing on February 2:` The US has to take tough measures
to neutralize insurgency in Northern Iraq’. Meanwhile he reminded
that Turkey stands for Iraq’s territorial integrity.
Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, who is going to visit Ankara
on February 5, will possibly discuss the issue of Kurdish state as
well as issues concerning Iraq’s reconstruction with Abdullah Gul.
By Hakob Chakrian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanArmenian News
Feb 3 2005
ANOTHER HOTLINE TO BE INTRODUCED FOR VICTIMS OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
ACTIVITIES
03.02.2005 15:15
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Another telephone number – 56 35 49 – will add next
week to the already existing hotline 56 42 97, opened October 21,
2004, via which citizens can report about facts of breaking their
rights by Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization. Leader of the
youth wing of the Republican Party of Armenia Armen Ashotian reported
it. It should be reminded that this autumn being concerned over the
facts of breaking human rights resulting from the activities of
Jehovah’s Witnesses and some other religious movements, over 40 youth
organizations of diverse political and public orientation initiated
creation of the mentioned hotline. Violation of child rights, cases
of suicide, desecration of Armenian Christian symbols (icons,
khachkars, etc.) are specifically mentioned. At the same time, in
Ashotian’s words, the hotline has not been efficient yet, as people
are not informed well about it.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Cyprus News Agency
Jan 26 2005
”Civil Servant” fired for expressing sympathy to G/C, Kurds,
Armenians
By Kyriakos Tsioupras
London, Jan 26 (CNA) — The violation of the right to freedom of
expression in the Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus was
brought before British Minister for Europe Dennis MacShane in the
House of Commons.

PanArmenian News
Jan 20 2005
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO PAY OFFICIAL CALL TO ITALY
20.01.2005 17:56
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian today received
Italian Ambassador to Yerevan Marco Clemente. As reported by the
president’s Press Service, in the course of the meeting details of R.
Kocharian’s coming official visit to Italy were discussed. In the
course of the conversation the Armenian leader emphasized that
traditional friendly relations are established with Italy. In his
words, there are good prospects in economic cooperation, specifically
in medium and small enterprise. It should be reminded that as earlier
stated by Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian, the visited is
expected to take place in late January.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Los Angeles Daily News
Jan 1 2005
Valley’s reps look back at victories great and small!w off
By Lisa Friedman
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Forget civics class. In the real world of Capitol Hill
politics, only one thing can make a bill become a law: power.
Those who have it — generally members of the majority party and
politicians who stick around Washington long enough — can boast at
the year’s end about all the new laws bearing their imprint.
Those who don’t — more junior or minority party members — call it a
win when they can get a few paragraphs tacked onto a larger piece of
legislation.
So it went for most San Fernando Valley lawmakers looking back upon
the 108th Congress.
Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, described the year as one of more
work than accomplishments — both for Congress as a whole and him
personally.
“No one could say this was a productive year. I got some things done,
but nowhere near what I wanted,” he said.
Berman described his 2004 legislative successes — one reforming the
mechanism through which copyright royalty rates are distributed, and
another authorizing scholarships to American schools in Arab
countries as “boring, but important.”
The scholarships, which will go toward helping poor and middle-class
Muslim students attend American-sponsored schools, was included in a
bill overhauling intelligence services but was not funded. Berman had
asked for $15 million.
He called the scholarships “a long-term investment in producing
leaders of the future” and vowed to secure money for them in 2005.
Immigration reform, perhaps Berman’s top legislative priority, ran
into election-year paralysis.
His bill to allow about 500,000 illegal immigrants establish legal
residency, known as AgJobs, had support from more than 60 lawmakers.
Half were Republicans. Yet with a contentious presidential campaign
under way, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist blocked it from coming
to the floor.
Berman said he will reintroduce the bill in January. He said he was
encouraged that President Bush recently renewed his quest for a
guest-worker plan.
“It sounds to me that the White House is interested in seeing if they
can try and solve this problem, and I think Democrats should be
willing to work with them,” Berman said.
Congress also stagnated on another top Berman priority, helping the
movie industry combat piracy. The House passed legislation he wrote
with Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, to increase penalties, but the Senate
did not. The issue is another Berman said he expects to tackle “real
early” in the 109th Congress.
Finally, legislation to restrict some law enforcement measures in the
Patriot Act also went nowhere. But, Berman said, he intended that
bill as more of a “marker” to lay out concerns that should be
addressed when the House debates whether or how to continue the USA
Patriot Act.
Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks, counts nearly a dozen elements
of the intelligence reform bill as stemming from his office.
They include changing the way the State Department designates foreign
terrorist groups so that it is the responsibility of the group, and
not the U.S. government, to prove the group is no longer engaging in
terrorist acts.
They also include demanding passenger inspections at more foreign
airports and creating a unified system for transliterating names into
the Roman alphabet to help standardize name-based “watch” lists.
“Speaking for myself, we had an extremely productive year,” Gallegly
said.
Gallegly found little movement, however, in his efforts to curb
illegal immigration and particularly to block acceptance of foreign
consular identification cards. He vowed to be on the forefront of
that debate in 2005, as well as efforts to block illegal immigrants
from driver’s licenses.
Another legislative disappointment came in the form of bear baiting.
Gallegly’s bill, which would have banned the practice of setting out
large piles of food and then lying in wait, faced massive opposition
from the hunting lobby. Gallegly said he doesn’t know if he will
re-introduce the bill but noted that some states have started to ban
the practice.
Finally, he hailed the little-noticed passage of the Korean Defense
Service Medal, to be given to members of the armed forces who served
in Korea after July 1954, when the Pentagon stopped issuing the Korea
Service Medal.
Two bills authored by Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita,
made it into law this year.
One places restrictions on the ownership and sales of tigers, lions
and other big cats to anyone other than zoos, exhibitors and those
certified to handle and care for the animals.
Another bill offers grants to states that help individuals with
disabilities to access “assistive technology.”
A leading member of the House Education Committee, McKeon also worked
language into an education bill ensuring that funding increases for
students with disabilities be passed directly to the local level.
McKeon said the measure stemmed from reports that California was
using the money intended for students with disabilities for unrelated
programs, or to help mask the budget deficit.
“That was a good victory for us,” McKeon said of the provision.
Yet with reauthorization of the higher education act and welfare
reform still on the table, McKeon said his 2005 goals remain similar
to the ones he had going into 2004. He blamed the Senate for much of
Congress’ inaction.
“The Senate never even dropped a bill,” he said of the education
measure. “I think they just figured early on they weren’t going to be
able to get it done, so they didn’t even address it. But I think
we’re going to be able to move early next year.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, managed this year to expand DNA
analysis, establish a U.S. trade representative for intellectual
property rights and help hybrid-car drivers save toll money.
He also worked some language on nuclear non-proliferation into the
intelligence bill, including a provision defining the crime of
assembling a radioactive dirty bomb and allowing prosecutors to use
racketeering laws to investigate and prosecute people trading in
nuclear technology.
Schiff, who helped found a Democrat study group on non-proliferation,
said he intends to make that issue one of his top priorities in 2005.
One bill Schiff said he plans to introduce in January will deal a
comprehensive global cleanup of nuclear material in a way he vowed
“goes beyond anything I’ve seen before.”
Schiff failed to secure passage of an amendment recognizing the
Armenian genocide. But, he called language that was approved and
later stripped from a bill at the insistence of House Speaker Dennis
Hastert “a symbolic victory.”
“Given that next year is the 90th anniversary (of the genocide),
we’re going to make a big push.”
Also still lingering is legislation expanding the Santa Monica
Mountains National Recreation Area to include more of the mountains
near La Crescenta, Santa Clarita, Simi and Conejo valleys, as well as
the Arroyo Seco.
“We got very close,” Schiff said. “I’m hoping we’ll find smoother
passage this year.”
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, counted among his accomplishments
extending a $2,000 tax credit for hybrid-car owners and stopping what
he described as “some really bad Republican ideas.”
One of those measures he worked against was a restructuring of the
federal-state securities regulation, which Sherman argued would
destroy state securities laws. A former certified public accountant,
Sherman also fiercely opposed bills by Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora,
changing the rules for employee stock options, which Sherman said
would deprive investors of information.
A measure on presidential succession, which Sherman started working
on well before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, received praise
from constitutional scholars and other lawmakers in 2004 but saw no
movement.
Sherman said he plans to reintroduce the bill yet is not getting his
hopes up about passage.
“Just because it’s important does not mean there’s anybody in
Washington that cares a whole lot about it,” he said.
Sherman also said Iran will continue to top his foreign policy
agenda. He managed to work in language promoting democracy in Iran
into the intelligence bill, but said he was still waiting for
Republican leaders to hold hearings on the country’s development of
nuclear weapons.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Expansion (Madrid)
Lunes,13 Diciembre 2004
EN PRIMER PLANO SOCIEDADES MULTIETNICAS Y COMPLEJIDAD POLITICA
El federalismo parece la formula mas razonable para ilustrar y
orientar las soluciones que cada caso merezca de cara a establecer
valores comunes entre intereses opuestos.
El sociologo frances Alain Touraine ha pronosticado que el siglo XXI
estara dominado por “la cuestion nacional”, como el siglo XX lo
estuvo por la cuestion social. “En todas las partes del mundo
-senala- es visible el desgarramiento entre el universalismo
arrogante y unos particularismos agresivos. El principal problema
politico es, y sera, limitar ese conflicto total, establecer unos
valores comunes entre intereses opuestos”.
La realidad le esta dando la razon. Basta echar una mirada a nuestro
alrededor para descubrir que la mayoria de los conflictos politicos y
de las guerras actuales responden a la complejidad multiidentitaria
de las naciones diversas o a los nacionalismos exacerbados en
territorios o en estados cuya integridad esta cuestionada.
Los Balcanes fueron el primer gran estallido y todavia no se ha
resuelto, porque la convivencia en Bosnia, cuando las fuerzas de EEUU
y Europa dejen de ejercer el orden, puede obligarnos a reconocer
otros dos estados, y porque Kosovo sigue siendo un problema
irresoluble: un territorio que pertenece, indudablemente, a Serbia,
con un 80% de poblacion albanesa que odia al 20% serbio y viceversa.
Pero miremos ahora al sur del Caucaso y veremos a los armenios que
odian Turquia por el genocidio de principios del siglo XX.
Georgianos divididos por sus intereses para con Rusia o EEUU.
El conflicto de Nagorno-Karabaj expresa bien esta complejidad.
Territorio de Azerbaian poblado totalmente por armenios. Un enclave
cristiano rodeado por musulmanes. Los ejercitos de ambos paises estan
en una escalada armamentista: los unos para defender su territorio y
los otros para defender a sus ciudadanos.
Mas arriba y al Este esta Chechenia, cuyo conflicto, mejor diremos
guerra, con Rusia no tiene ni facil ni rapida solucion. Incluso en el
actualisimo problema electoral surgido en Ucrania late un gravisimo
problema de convivencia multiidentitaria. Los ucranianos del Norte y
del Este son pro-rusos por origen, afinidad, cultura e intereses y el
resto es pro-occidental y europeo. Un grave cisma de orden politico y
social se cierne sobre ese importantisimo pais en el que ya se han
empezado a escuchar llamamientos separatistas de una comunidad
dividida.
Todo el Este europeo es un polvorin identitario que ha estallado con
la caida del comunismo y el fracaso de las fronteras creadas por
Stalin y los grandes movimientos poblacionales que organizo aquel
regimen politico. Pero ya mucho antes, desde la caida del imperio
austro-hungaro, las minorias etnicas, linguisticas o nacionales en
paises distintos presentan una complejidad no por conocida menos
importante: el enclave ruso de Kaliningrado en Polonia, hungaros en
Rumania, albaneses en Serbia y Montenegro, serbios en Croacia y
Bosnia, turcos en Bulgaria, armenios en Azerbayan, polacos en
Lituania, uzbekos en Tajakistan, etcetera
Tampoco nosotros escapamos a esta complejidad. El nacionalismo
catalan y el vasco, con la deriva violenta de este ultimo,
representan, objetivamente, una dificilisima problematica para la
construccion de la nacion espanola. Pero los franceses tienen
Corcega, y en menor medida la Bretana. Los ingleses, Escocia y Gales;
los italianos, la Padania del Norte, y no digamos los belgas, que no
son dos Estados porque les queda el Rey y el nombre, y la historia de
un solo pais, aunque walones y flamencos parecen dos.
?Que hacer?, que diria Lenin. Hay una falsa solucion: crear nuevos
estados alla donde una comunidad cultural o etnica lo reclama, bajo
el llamado principio de la autodeterminacion. En definitiva, alterar
el statu quo de los limites territoriales y las fronteras y guiarse
del principio nacionalista en la construccion de los estados, que
atribuye esa condicion a las naciones puras, basadas en una lengua,
cultura e historia comunes y en una voluntad ciudadana ampliamente
respaldada (como la escision de la Republica Checa y Eslovaquia, por
ejemplo).
Pero ese principio nos arrastra a una progresiva tribalizacion del
mundo. En plena globalizacion, cuando mas necesario es crear espacios
supranacionales e implementar politicas mundiales en las finanzas, en
la multilateralidad internacional o en el medio ambiente, resulta
paradojico y completamente contradictorio que el mundo se fragmente
en su organizacion politica aplicando el principio de que donde hay
una lengua o una etnia hay una nacion, y donde hay nacion debemos
construir un estado. Conviene recordar que, como nos dice el
historiador britanico E. Hobsbawn, en la actualidad hay no menos de
seiscientas lenguas vivas y mas de cuatro mil grupos etnicos
diferentes. ?Es esta la organizacion del poder politico que
propugnamos para la diversidad y la multietnicidad del mundo?
Tiene que haber otras soluciones. La mia es el federalismo en los
estados complejos por su diversidad identitaria y en los espacios
supranacionales que estamos creando sobre los estados actuales, es
decir, en la Union Europea, en nuestro caso.
El federalismo responde a un triple principio que inspira una triple
exigencia de las comunidades intraestatales. El primero es la
subsidiariedad, que garantiza una organizacion administrativa del
poder politico de abajo a arriba, es decir, de lo local a lo
supranacional con predominio de la gestion local. El segundo es la
identidad, que asegura el respeto y el fomento de los elementos
culturales y politicos distintivos de la comunidad de referencia.
Implica el autogobierno politico de la region-nacion o comunidad.
El tercero es la cohesion que garantiza la unidad y la solidaridad
del Estado y de este como garante de derechos, deberes, igualdad y
seguridad.
El federalismo como cultura politica, como modelo de articulacion del
poder al territorio, con todas sus variables y con todos los
adjetivos que se le quieran anadir, constituye la formula mas
ingeniosa y democratica para resolver las demandas de las
nacionalidades sin estado en el seno de estados plurinacionales.
Es, ademas, la mejor formula para orientar la construccion de los
espacios supranacionales y resolver los mecanismos de subsidiariedad
e identidad de los estados-nacion, con la necesaria cohesion y
coordinacion entre los estados.
El federalismo constituye la formula mas generosa y profunda de
descentralizacion politica, entendiendo por tal no la mera delegacion
o descentralizacion administrativa sino la disposicion de un Poder
Legislativo, Ejecutivo y Judicial, con competencia propia para
decidir, mediante organos elegidos en el ambito de la comunidad y con
reglas democraticas propias, sobre los problemas economico-culturales
y sociales de su interes.
En definitiva, y para establecer esos valores comunes entre intereses
opuestos a los que se referia Touraine, el federalismo parece la
formula mas razonable para ilustrar y orientar las soluciones que
cada caso merezca. Federalismo es union, lealtad y libertad; es
autonomia en cooperacion. Federalismo es soberanias compartidas
sometidas a un orden jerarquico y organizado de decidir en un marco
de cooperacion y no de competencia. Federalismo es hacer compatibles
espacios concentricos de organizacion territorial del poder politico
a traves de un orden constitucional basado en una cultura y unos
principios de respeto mutuo y de colaboracion desde la autonomia.
La mayoria de los conflictos politicos y de las guerras actuales
responden a la complejidad multinidentaria de las naciones
El federalismo es hacer compatibles espacios concentricos de
organizacion territorial del poder politico Portavoz del PSOE en la
Comision Constitucional del Congreso de los Diputados
Ramon Jauregui Atondo
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress