[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 24, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H3215-H3216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      AMBASSADOR EVANS REPLACEMENT

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim Mr. 
Miller's time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight because the White House has 
finally made an announcement of what many of us already knew, that 
Ambassador John Evans of Armenia is officially being replaced.

[[Page H3216]]

  Ambassador Evans has given exemplary service to his country, and was 
a well-respected ambassador in a region of strategic importance to the 
United States. However, as it turns out, Evans was forced to vacate his 
post for publicly affirming the Armenian genocide.
  Reports highly suggest that because Evans declared that ``the 
Armenian genocide was the first genocide of the 20th Century,'' he is 
being unjustly penalized for speaking the truth.
  However, by employing the proper term last year, the Ambassador was 
only building on previous statements by our leaders in Government, as 
well as the repeated declarations of numerous world-renowned scholars. 
Ambassador Evans did nothing more than succinctly repeat the 
conclusions enunciated by many before him.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my fear that the Government of Turkey may have 
played a role in this unfortunate event. I strongly believe that they 
have expressed concern to the White House over Evans' remarks last 
year. In fact, immediately following his remarks, Evans issued a 
correction, all too seemingly at the behest of the administration.
  And we must not allow a third party to interfere in U.S. diplomacy 
and refrain from declaring the truth in order to promote relations with 
Turkey. To this day, the Republic of Turkey refuses to acknowledge the 
fact that this massive crime against humanity took place under its 
control in the name of Turkish nationalism.
  Unfortunately some 90 years later, the U.S. State Department 
continues to support Turkey's denials despite all evidence to the 
contrary. It is simply unacceptable for this administration to penalize 
Evans for his comments.
  What he did was courageous and should be viewed as such, not 
punished. Ambassador Evans simply articulated the same message as that 
of the administration. However the only difference was his assigning a 
word to define the actions taken against Armenians.
  Ambassador Evans is in fact an expert on the subject. He has studied 
the history of Armenia and based on his substantial studies he was 
willing to go on the record and define the systematic extermination of 
1\1/2\ million Armenian men, women and children as genocide.
  Mr. Speaker, in early March I wrote a letter to the State Department 
because I was outraged to see that Ambassador Evans was withdrawn from 
Armenia. Based on news reports the State Department recalled the 
Ambassador as retaliation for his statements.
  Over 2 months have passed since I expressed my disappointment and I 
have yet to receive a response from the State Department. I 
specifically asked Secretary Rice for an explanation as to why 
Ambassador Evans was removed from his post. Not only was my inquiry 
ignored, but other Member's inquiries have also gone unanswered.
  Now the White House has made an official announcement, but still has 
not given an explanation. Mr. Speaker, I hope that the newly-appointed 
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Richard Hoagland, will not play the word 
games of the White House and comply with Turkey's campaign of genocide 
denial.
  Mr. Speaker, the New York Times did an editorial on May 16 this year 
detailing the dangers to Turkey and to the world of that country's 
continued denial of the Armenian genocide. I just want to read the last 
paragraph of that insignificant editorial. It says, ``the preponderance 
of serious scholarship outside Turkey accepts that more than a million 
Armenians perished between 1914 and 1915 in a regime-sponsored 
campaign. Turkey's continued refusal to countenance even a discussion 
of the issue stands as a major obstacle to restoring relations with 
neighboring Armenia and to claiming Turkey's rightful place in Europe 
and the west. It is time for the Turks to realize that the greater 
danger to them is denying history.''

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