Pallone Voices Opposition to the Renomination of Richard Hoagland to Serve as Ambassador to Armenia

Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, went to the House floor this afternoon to express his surprise that President Bush would once again nominate Richard Hoagland as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. Hoagland was nominated last year but did not have enough support to make it out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In his floor speech, the New Jersey congressman voiced his strong opposition to the nomination and urged the president to withdraw the nomination. Pallone's floor statement follows.

"Mr. Speaker, I want to express my concern and my opposition this afternoon to the re-nomination of Richard Hoagland as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. I also want to thank my colleague from New Jersey, Senator Menendez, for his continued opposition to the nomination.

"This makes no sense, Mr. Speaker. The Senate Foreign Relations committee reviewed the nomination of Mr. Hoagland, had hearings and asked extensive written questions as follow-up in the last session of congress. Afterward, it was clear that his nomination could not pass the Senate. In fact, it could not even pass the Senate Foreign Relations committee. It was essentially sent back to the Administration at the end of the lame-duck session.

"I'm frankly surprised that the President has re-nominated Mr. Hoagland under the circumstances. The problem continues to be that on the one hand, the Administration has not offered any meaningful explanation for firing the last U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans. We all know the reason why Mr. Evans was terminated. It was because he articulated that the Armenian genocide occurred.

"Historically, the U.S. policy has been to basically announce and accept the fact that the tragic events of the Armenian genocide occurred, but when anyone at the Administration talks about genocide, immediately they're seen as a bad actor and consequences follow. Ambassador Evans was visiting California when he was involved in a discussion about the tragic events that occurred from 1915 to 1925. Afterwards, he used the term 'genocide'.

"It may seem like no big deal to reflect this fact. The U.S. has historically acknowledged it. But the very fact that he used that term incurred tremendous opposition from the Turkish government. From that day on, his days were numbered as the Ambassador to Armenia and eventually he was terminated. Mr. Hoagland was nominated in his place.

"Now, Mr. Speaker, last session when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee considered his nomination, he failed to adequately respond to the questions asked by the Senators. I would also like to add this is on a bipartisan basis. This isn't a Democrat or Republican issue. The members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee asked him a number of questions and he would not clarify the U.S.' policy of denying the Armenian genocide.

"In many instances he did not respond to specific Senators' questions and he diverted his answers by responding by what seemed like prepared talking points, going to extreme lengths to avoid using the term genocide. Additionally, in response to written inquiries from Senator John Kerry concerning Turkey's criminal prosecution of journalists for writing about the Armenian genocide, he referred to these writings as allegations.

"The U.S. has historically taken a leadership role in preventing genocide in human rights. Yet, the Bush Administration continues to play word games by not calling evil by its proper name in this case. Instead they refer to the mass killings of 1.5 million Armenians as tragic events. That term should not be substituted for genocide. The two words are simply not synonymous. There are historical documents that show that the genocide cannot be refuted but somehow the Bush Administration continues to ignore the truth in fear of offending the Turkish government.

"I don't think that our nation's response to genocide should be denigrated to a level acceptable to the Turkish government and it's about time that this administration started dictating a policy for Americans, not for a foreign government like Turkey. This lack of honesty, in my opinion, by the Bush Administration is simply not acceptable. The American people and this Congress deserve a full and truthful account of the role of the Turkish government in denying the Armenian genocide.

"Mr. Speaker, there is no way, in my opinion, that Mr. Hoagland is going to be confirmed because of his policy and because of the fact that he continues to articulate a policy of denial. I fear myself that it would make no sense to send an Ambassador from this country to Armenia who cannot articulate the genocide. So I simply ask that this nomination be opposed again in the Senate and that the Bush Administration withdraw the nomination."