AHEPA:Action Alert | Armenian Genocide Resolution | House Vote Today!

AMERICAN HELLENIC EDUCATIONAL PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION

ACTION ALERT October 29, 2019   CONTACT: AHEPA Headquarters PHONE: 202.232.6300 EMAIL: ahepa@ahepa.org Photo via U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. * * * Action Alert! * * * The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a bipartisan-supported resolution today that affirms the Armenian Genocide. H.Res.296, affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide, is sponsored by U.S. Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Frank Pallone (D-NJ). Take Action If needed, find your representative Call the Capitol Switchboard and ask for your U.S. representative's office: 202.224.3121 Urge your U.S. representative support passage of H.Res.296, a resolution that affirms the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide. AHEPA Statement (view here) Supreme President George G. Horiates has issued the following statement as the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on H.Res.296, a resolution affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide, this week: "The Ottoman Empire brutally and systematically massacred 1.5 million Armenians during the Armenian Genocide, the first Genocide of the 20th century, along with Christian minorities who were systematically murdered during this time period, including Greeks and many others.   "The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association stands with the Armenian American community during this historically significant moment. It is high time the United States affirms a fact of history and end its denial.  We urge the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the bipartisan-backed Armenian Genocide resolution when it comes to the House Floor this week and for the U.S. Senate to follow suit swiftly.  We echo strongly what many of our colleagues have noted--this is a matter of basic human rights. Moreover, the passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution is about education and awareness to prevent future atrocities from occurring." Additional Info The U.S. Senate's companion bill, S.Res.150, is sponsored by U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Ted Cruz (R-TX). In addition to affirming the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide: The two congressional resolutions cite the United States' "providing relief to the survivors of the campaign of genocide against Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians;" The resolutions also cite the work of the Near East Relief, which was chartered by an Act of Congress.  Near East Relief provided humanitarian aid to Greek refugees and to Greece during a period from 1915 to 1930. Additional Resources United States Holocaust Museum: Special Focus -- The Armenian Genocide  International Association of Genocide Scholars -- IAGS Resolutions Near East Foundation: Near East Relief history # # #      Founded in 1922 in Atlanta, Georgia, on the principles that undergirded its fight for civil rights and against discrimination, bigotry, and hatred felt at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, AHEPA is the largest and oldest grassroots association of American citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes with more than 400 chapters across the United States, Canada, and Europe.     AHEPA's mission is to promote the ancient Greek ideals of Education, Philanthropy, Civic Responsibility, and Family and Individual Excellence through community service and volunteerism.    For more information, please visit www.ahepa.org.