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Congressman Deutch Cosponsors Genocide Prevention Resolution
Last week, South Florida Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL) became the latest cosponsor of H. Res. 220, a resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding past genocides.
The resolution states that “the lessons of past genocides should be applied to help prevent future war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.” It reaffirms the 2016 resolutions passed in the House and Senate that recognized the ISIS killings of “Christians, Yezidis, and other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria” as genocide, as well as the decades-long U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide.
In a series of tweets announcing his support for the legislation, Congressman Deutch stated that “Over 100 years after Armenian Genocide, it is our responsibility to continue to learn from this dark moment in history.”
“Over 100 years after the Armenian Genocide, it is our responsibility to continue to learn from this dark moment in history which caused unimaginable devastation and irreparable pain to the Armenian people,” Rep. Deutch told FLArmenians.com. “As we’ve learned from survivors of the Holocaust, keeping alive the memory of those lost and retelling the story of this genocide is essential in working to prevent history from repeating itself. Unfortunately, the recent genocide against the Yazidis by ISIS reminds us that we still have far to go,” he said.
Deutch, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is only the second Florida lawmaker to cosponsor H. Res. 220. Armenian Caucus Vice-Chair Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) led the effort in the introduction of H. Res. 220 back in March. It currently has 52 cosponsors and has been referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. A date has not yet been set for a committee vote on the bill.