Armenian National Committee of America
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PRESS RELEASE
August 1, 2006
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
SEN. BIDEN DELAYS SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS
COMMITTEE VOTE ON HOAGLAND NOMINATION
— Sen. Kerry Joins in Calling for Delay Until After August Recess
— Senator Allen Supports Call for Delay
WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), the Ranking Democrat
on the Foreign Relations Committee, was joined today by Senator
John Kerry (D-MA) in forcing a month-long delay in the Committee’s
vote on the controversial nomination of Richard Hoagland to replace
the current U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
The controversy within the Foreign Relations Committee over the
Hoagland nomination began with Senator Biden’s June 23rd letter
asking Secretary of State Rice Condoleezza Rice to respond to a
series of questions, including specific inquiries about reports
that the current Ambassador had been recalled due to his having
"accurately described the Armenian Genocide as genocide." The
debate over the merits of the nomination heated up during the June
28th confirmation hearing due to the nominee’s evasive and
unresponsive answers to straightforward questions posed by panel
members about U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide. Following the
hearing, Ambassador-designate Hoagland, in a sharp departure from
established Administration practice, responded to a written Senate
inquiry by questioning the genocidal intent of the perpetrators of
the Armenian Genocide, a denial tactic frequently used by the
Turkish government.
As a result of the intervention of Senators Biden and Kerry,
Ambassador-designate Hoagland’s nomination will not be considered
by the Committee until the Committee’s next business meeting in
September.
"The ANCA welcomes the leadership of Senators Biden and Kerry in
ensuring that the Foreign Relations Committee has the time to more
carefully consider the implications – for both our foreign policy
and our values as a nation – of confirming a U.S. Ambassador to
Armenia who is on record denying the Armenian Genocide," said ANCA
Chairman Ken Hachikian. "We appreciate, as well, the principled
efforts of Senators Allen, Boxer, Chafee, Coleman, Dodd, Feingold,
Kennedy, Reed, Sarbanes, and others to seek an honest explanation
of the firing of Ambassador Evans, to explore the role of the
Turkish government in his recall, and to insist that the
Administration clearly articulate its stand on the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide."
The panel’s decision comes in the wake of a nationwide campaign by
the ANCA – in Washington, DC and in grassroots communities across
the country – to demand answers concerning the recall of Amb. Evans
and to educate Senators about the adverse impact of sending an
envoy to Armenia that has called into question the genocidal
character of Ottoman Turkey’s systematic destruction of its
Armenian population. The ANCA has mobilized thousands of activists
to share their views with their Senators and Representatives about
the need for an honest explanation of Ambassador Evans’ recall and,
more broadly, the exact outlines of the State Department’s policy
on the Armenian Genocide.
As early as this February, Members of Congress, at the urging of
the ANCA, began pressing the State Department for a full, open, and
official explanation of the firing of the current U.S. Ambassador
to Armenia, over his truthful comment last year on the Armenian
Genocide. Despite a series of Congressional letters and questions
posed during Congressional testimony by Secretary of State Rice and
other senior officials, the Administration failed to provide a
meaningful explanation of its decision to recall Ambassador Evans.
In the shadow of this controversy, Ambassador-designate Hoagland
came before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 28th for
a confirmation hearing, alongside the President’s nominees to
represent the U.S. in Ireland and Switzerland. During this
hearing, Senators George Allen (R-VA) and Norm Coleman (R-MN)
pressed Ambassador-designate Hoagland for answers about U.S. policy
on the Armenian Genocide. Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) expressed
serious reservations concerning the circumstances of the nomination
and the Administration’s policy on the Armenian Genocide.
Ambassador-designate Hoagland’s responses during the hearing, and
later to written questions submitted by panel members, were largely
evasive, characterized by repeated – often strained – efforts to
avoid using the term genocide, even while refusing to acknowledge
that he had been instructed not to use this term. The following
day, on June 29th, the panel, and then the full Senate, voted to
confirm nominees for the ambassadors to Ireland and Switzerland,
but chose to not take any action on Hoagland’s nomination.
In the days that followed his confirmation hearing, Ambassador-
designate Hoagland responded to several dozen written questions
concerning U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide, the recall of
Ambassador Evans, and the instructions he had received regarding
how to address this matter if confirmed by the Senate. Among his
written responses to a series of questions posed by Senator Barbara
Boxer (D-CA), was a deeply troubling, morally objectionable and
historically inaccurate indication that the Armenian Genocide did
not meet the U.S. definition of genocide because of the absence of
a "specific intent" on the part of the perpetrator. This denial of
the Armenian Genocide – which went far beyond the bounds of the
Administration’s traditional policy – prompted the ANCA to announce
its formal opposition to Richard Hoagland’s nomination on July
18th.
For the official ANCA statement, visit:
leases.php?prid – 6
Soon after, the ANCA determined that, according to Department of
Justice records, the State Department had misled the U.S. Senate
about its communications with the Turkish government concerning the
February 2005 public affirmation of the Armenian Genocide by
Ambassador Evans. In a letter, dated June 28th, written on behalf
of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Senator Biden, the State
Department denied that the Turkish government had even approached
the Administration on this issue. However, official Foreign Agent
Registration Act filings by the Turkish government’s registered
foreign agent, the Livingston Group, document that, in the days
following Ambassador Evans’ February 19, 2005 remarks, one of
Turkey’s agents communicated on at least four different occasions
with State Department officials concerning the envoy’s statement
and his subsequent retraction.
To date, half of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including
Senators George Allen (R-VA), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Barbara Boxer
(D-CA), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Christopher
Dodd (D-CT), Russell Feingold (D-WI), John Kerry (D-MA) and Paul
Sarbanes (D-MD), have contacted Secretary Rice or questioned
Ambassador Designate Hoagland directly regarding the Armenian
Genocide. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Jack Reed (D-RI),
along with over sixty members of the House have also expressed
serious concerns to the State Department on this matter.
For a comprehensive overview of documents regarding the firing of
Ambassador Evans and the Hoagland controversy, visit:
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http://www.anca.org/press_releases/press_re
http://www.anca.org/hoagland_controversy.ph
www.anca.org