The lead authors of the Armenian Genocide Resolution Robert Dold and Adam Schiff are leading a bipartisan effort to secure Congressional signatures on a letter urging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to renounce her recent public mischaracterization of the Armenian Genocide as a “historical debate,” reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

A “Dear Colleague letter” currently being circulated by Representatives Schiff and Dold calls upon their colleagues in the U.S. House to join with them in co-signing a letter asking Secretary Clinton to “disavow” her “historical debate” remarks, which she made at a public Town Hall meeting, and properly recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The two legislators stressed in this correspondence that the “historical debate” argument has long been a talking point pushed by the Government of Turkey and other genocide deniers, who seek to muddy the waters by claiming that we in Congress must stay our hand in order to avoid undermining history’s settling of the truth.

The letter to Secretary Clinton notes that her, “historically inaccurate description of the Armenian Genocide as an open question, in addition to the offense it represents to Armenian Americans and other victims of genocide, provides American encouragement to the Republic of Turkey in its shameful campaign of denial.”