[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 163 (Thursday, October 25, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE WITHDRAWAL OF MY CO-SPONSORSHIP OF H.R. 106, THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE 
                               RESOLUTION

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CAROLYN C. KILPATRICK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 25, 2007

  Ms. KILPATRICK. Madam Speaker, I am opposed to genocide whenever and 
wherever it has occurred in history and I believe that we should never 
forget any atrocity that occurs anywhere, at any time. While I believe 
that the incidents that took place in Armenia were wrong and merit 
acknowledgement, I have decided to withdraw my sponsorship of H.R. 106, 
the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
  Turkey is a strategic partner and one of our few friends in the 
Middle East. It allows us to use its air force base at Incirlik for 
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey's leaders have said if this 
resolution passes, they will withdraw our military access to this base. 
Because the President has distanced or destroyed our relationships with 
many countries as a result of the war in Iraq, we should maintain and 
strengthen our rapport with the few allies we have, particularly in the 
Middle East.
  However, there is a more important and fundamental reason that I have 
withdrawn my support. I can no longer support any resolution that 
condemns another country for its actions, while we here in the United 
States will not address and have not come to terms with the 
miscarriages of justice, the lack of equality, and the human rights 
violations that take place against our own citizens.
  Our poor, our women, our less educated, our people of color, and 
others who are disadvantaged and disenfranchised across our great 
country--lauded as the ``land of opportunity''--suffer daily from 
injustice and inequality. They lack access to affordable health care, 
quality education, well-paying jobs, capital, and other items necessary 
to give them and their families a chance at achieving the American 
Dream. Most recently, the President chose to veto a bill that would 
provide access to health care to 10 million children of working class 
parents. This is simply inexcusable.
  In the Bible, John 8:7 reads ``let him who is without sin cast the 
first stone.'' Here, in the United States, we are often quick to point 
out the faults and flaws of other countries, their leaders, and their 
citizens. However, before we criticize, chastise, and condemn them, we 
must first challenge our own imperfections, consider our own 
inadequacies, confront our own issues, and change our own behavior.
  There are human rights violations taking place all across the world, 
from Sudan and Syria, to Bangladesh and Burma, to Nicaragua and 
Colombia. Simultaneously, there are unresolved human rights challenges 
here in America that we have not begun to tackle.
  I was always taught to take care of home first. I believe that 
America can and should be a force for change. As a world leader, we not 
only have the power, but we also have the responsibility, to make a 
positive difference in the lives of others--here at home and in 
countries around the world. However, before we point the finger at 
anyone else, we must take a deeper, closer look at the problems that 
plague our cities, our communities, and our country and work to change 
the lives of our citizens for the better.
  This resolution, at this time, could undermine the efforts of the 
United States to prevent the Turkish military from launching an attack 
inside Iraq; it could create a logistical nightmare for our military 
women and men in Iraq and Afghanistan. If we have strained relations 
with Turkey, the largest Muslim ally we have in the Middle East, 
further damage to the standing of the United States in the Islamic 
world would be the immediate result.
  This is the right bill, but this is the wrong time. America must be 
what we want to see for the world.

                          ____________________