US Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Tuesday began circulating a Dear Colleague letter, urging fellow House Members to sign on as co-sponsors of H. Res. 252, the Affirmation of the U.S. Record on the Armenian Genocide, introduced by him to recognize, commemorate and properly characterize the murder of 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children during World War I as genocide.

“For too long, the United States has given in to Turkey’s bullying and efforts to recognize the victims of the genocide have fallen short,” Rep. Schiff said in the letter.  “Preservation of the bilateral relationship has been allowed to supersede our moral duty to memorialize and honor those who died, and to comfort their descendants – our constituents – who fear that the first genocide of the Twentieth Century will be lost to history.”

While the Armenian Genocide has been recognized by more than 20 nations including Canada, Italy, Sweden, France, Argentina and Russia, as well as the European Parliament, it has not been formally recognized by the U.S. Congress in decades.  Currently, 143 Members have signed on as co-sponsors to honor the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

“Given Turkey’s recent behavior, this Congress needs to reevaluate whether we should continue to dishonor the dead to placate a false friend,” Rep. Schiff continues in the letter.  “Now is the time to reassert our moral leadership in the fight against genocide, to honor the memory of a million and a half innocent men, women and children.”