Armenian Genocide Resolution Puts Dallas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson In Spotlight

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Dallas) is in the spotlight this week as a result of a controversial resolution condemning the 1915-1917 Armenian “genocide.” Johnson has been getting some press lately because she is one of the members of Congress who doesn’t agree that actions that occurred at the time constitute a genocide.

The Hill has more:

The introduction of the measure, expected to happen within a month, will reignite a fierce debate in Congress.

Schiff’s renewed push comes in the wake of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s recent visit to Turkey and President Obama’s planned trip there next month.

Turkey has lobbied intensely against Schiff’s resolution, disputing the characterization of the killings of Armenians more than 90 years ago as a “genocide.”

Both Clinton and Obama have previously indicated support for Schiff’s companion measure, sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

Turkey Foreign Minister Ali Babacan expressed concern last weekend that Obama would urge Congress to label the massacre as a genocide, pointing out the president has made that promise five times.

Babacan urged the U.S. “not to interfere in the dispute.”

House Democratic leaders last Congress vowed to vote on the Schiff measure, but after the Bush administration rallied against it on national-security grounds, the resolution never made it to the floor.

As the debate heated up, 25 House lawmakers who initially co-sponsored Schiff’s measure formally withdrew their support.

And a little background on the incident in question itself:

There is little agreement between the Turks and the Armenians on what actually happened in 1915. What the two sides can agree on is this: Starting in 1915, under the rule of the Ottoman Empire — not modern-day Turkey — the Ottomans killed Armenians. The reasons for the killings, as well as the number of people who died, are all hotly contested questions. Schiff’s measure claims that 1.5 million Armenians perished.

And here is where Eddie Bernice Johnson comes in:

Another opponent of the Schiff resolution, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), said that she does not acknowledge that there was a genocide.

Bernice Johnson, who circulated a Feb. 25 “Dear Colleague” letter about Schiff’s measure, was asked, “Do you acknowledge that there was a genocide?”

Bernice Johnson initially responded, “I don’t acknowledge, I was not around.”

Pressed further on whether she acknowledges the genocide, Bernice Johnson said, “No, I don’t.”

Reacting to Bernice Johnson’s statements, Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee on America, said, “I am saddened to hear that a member of Congress would say this.”

Eddie Bernice Johnson is one of many of our state’s members of Congress who doesn’t get a lot of press, but does her job well. Being unfamiliar with the history of the incident in question, I take no position or the other, but do find it interesting that a Texas Congresswoman has been drawn into the middle of the controversy.

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