WASHINGTON. - The lead authors of the Armenian Genocide Resolution Adam Schiff and Robert Dold, today sent a letter, co-signed by 59 of their House colleagues, calling on 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).

In their letter to Secretary Clinton, the signatories noted 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.”

They also reminded the Secretary that in 2006 she joined with President Obama - then a U.S. Senator - in writing a letter explaining to President Bush that the Armenian Genocide was a “systematic and deliberate campaign of genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. . . The victims of the Genocide deserve our remembrance and their rightful place in history. . . .It is in the best interests of our nation and the entire global community to remember the past and learn from these crimes against humanity to ensure that they are never repeated.” 

Secretary Clinton is scheduled to testify and answer questions before four separate U.S. House and Senate panels this coming week.