ArmInfo. Having appeared on the agenda of the Senate, a resolution on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide will inevitably be adopted, Head of Hay Dat Office, ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau Responsible for Foreign Policy Affairs Kiro Manoyan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"The adoption of the resolution on genocide by the US House of Representatives lasted for 35 years. The resolution periodically appeared on the agenda of this chamber of the American parliament, however, most congressmen voted against it. I am convinced that in the case of the second chamber - the Senate, the adoption of resolution will not be so long. As soon as the resolution is put on the agenda of the senators, it will be adopted. And its opponents are well aware of this, which leads to the blocking of the document even before it enters the Senate, "he stressed.
Resolution No. 296 was adopted by the House of Representatives by a majority vote: 405 for, 11 against, with three abstentions. Thus, the Armenian Genocide was officially recognized by the most influential country in the world at the level of lower house of Congress. It should be noted that resolution N296 does not impose any obligations on the US government, since the document is of a purely advisory nature.
According to Manoyan's estimates, today the opinions of the Republican senators regarding the reasonability of adopting a similar resolution by the Senate were divided and, figuratively speaking, today there is a struggle between them. At the same time, the politician is convinced that there are two possible options for the pro-Armenian resolution to overcome all the possible, upcoming vetos.
According to the politician, the Republicans have already twice blocked the possibility of directly submitting the resolution on the Armenian Genocide to the Senate using veto option. Moreover, both times it was put up by Senator Robert Menendez. However, there are two other ways. The resolution can be submitted to the Senate thanks to its head or senator, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And, according to Manoyan, Armenian lobbyists are already actively working in this direction.
The pro-Armenian, or rather anti-Turkish resolution was presented to Senate and led by senior Democrat in Foreign Affairs Committee Robert Menendez and Congressman Ted Cruz. It is noteworthy that the main Armenian lobbyist Menendez, presenting the draft Senate version of the resolution, emphasized that "US foreign policy must honestly reflect violations of human rights and crimes against humanity."
However, fellow senators were deprived of even the opportunity by voting on the resolution to respond to Menendez's call. On November 13, the Republican Party senator, Chair of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Lindsey Graham, using the rule that one senator could veto the vote of the entire upper house, blocked the resolution on recognition of the Armenian Genocide. It is noteworthy that Graham, who is a close associate of US President Donald Trump, did this following his meeting at the White House with Recep Erdogan. A few days later, Graham unexpectedly announced that he would no longer impede the discussion of the resolution in the Senate. Democrat spokesman Robert Menendez re-initiated the discussion, but this time he was sabotaged by Senator David Perdue .