Tuesday, April 5 2022 10:36

ArmInfo. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) welcomed news that Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) are introducing the  Armenian Genocide Education Act, a bipartisan measure - advanced in  the wake of official U.S.  Congressional and Presidential recognition  of this crime - to fund Library of Congress educational programs  about the history, lessons, consequences, and ongoing costs of the  Armenian Genocide.

This landmark legislation - strongly supported by the ANCA - seeks to  provide $10 million in funding over five years for the Library of  Congress to educate Americans about Ottoman Turkey's systematic and  deliberate state-sponsored mass murder, national dispossession,  cultural erasure, and exile of millions of Armenians, Greeks,  Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other  Christians, between 1915 and 1923.

"The ANCA thanks Congresswoman Maloney and Congressman Bilirakis,  welcoming their pending introduction of this thoughtful and timely  bill, brought forward in the wake of official U.S. recognition of the  1915 Genocide and amid renewed efforts by Azerbaijan and Turkey to  complete this crime against the Armenian nation," remarked ANCA  Chairman Raffi Hamparian. "This federal legislation represents a  responsible next step, building upon American remembrance, alerting  Americans to the ongoing threat of genocide, and ensuring that future  generations benefit from the lessons of this crime. The ANCA fully  supports this bill and looks forward to this measure being passed by  Congress and signed into law by the President," added the ANCA  Chairman.

Building upon the 2019 passage of H.Res.296 and S.Res.150 - which  specifically rejected any official U.S.  association with Armenian  Genocide denial - the Armenian Genocide Education Act seeks to  counter discourse and propaganda that claims that Ottoman Turkey's  systematic and deliberate state-sponsored mass murder, national  dispossession, cultural erasure, and exile of millions of Christians  between 1915 and 1923 did not take place.

Members of Congress can join Representatives Maloney and Bilirakis as  original cosponsors of the measure in the days leading up to its  introduction timed around April 24th, the international day of  remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.  

To encourage members of Congress to cosponsor and work for the  passage of this measure, visit anca.org/education.