[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12212-12213]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION AWARD WITHDRAWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to express my 
disappointment with the American Foreign Service Association, and its 
decision to withdraw awarding a ``Constructive Dissent'' award to U.S. 
Armenian Ambassador John Evans.
  Ambassador Evans was due to receive the Christian A. Heter Award for 
intellectual courage, initiative, and integrity later this week. The 
award was as a result of courageous statements he made regarding the 
recognition of the Armenian genocide.

[[Page 12213]]

  In a series of public statements, Ambassador Evans, who has studied 
Russian history at Yale and Columbia and Ottoman history at the Kennan 
Institute stated, ``I will today call it the Armenian genocide.''
  Mr. Speaker, Ambassador Evans has studied history of Armenia, and 
based on his substantial studies of the issue, he is willing to go on 
the record and define the actions taken Armenians as genocide. The 
Armenian genocide was the systematic extermination, the murder, of 1.5 
million Armenian men, women and children. To this day, the Republic of 
Turkey refuses to acknowledge the fact that this massive crime against 
humanity took place on soil under its control, and in the name of 
Turkish nationalism.
  Unfortunately, some 90 years later, the U.S. State Department 
continues to support Turkey's demands and denials despite all evidence 
to the contrary. It is not likely that the State Department was happy 
that their Ambassador to Armenia acknowledged the Armenian genocide. 
And, therefore, Ambassador Evans retracted his remarks after receiving 
substantial pressure from the State Department.
  Well, now the selection committee at the American Foreign Service 
Association has decided to withdraw the award with no reason for its 
actions. I find the timing of the decision peculiar. The sharp 
turnaround came right before Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan arrived in 
Washington for a meeting with President Bush. Based on past history, it 
is clear that the State Department, the Bush administration, and the 
pro-Turkish lobby pressured AFSA to withdraw Ambassador Evans' award.
  It is simply unacceptable for this administration to continue to 
penalize the ambassador for his comments. Ambassador Evans did a 
courageous thing. His statements did not contradict U.S. policy, but 
rather articulated the same message that this administration has sent 
to the public. The only difference in this case is that Ambassador 
Evans assigned a word to define the actions taken against the 
Armenians.

                              {time}  1930

  This was a refreshing break, I must add, from a pattern on the part 
of the State Department of using evasive and euphemistic terminology to 
obscure the full reality of the Armenian genocide. Ambassador Evans 
pointed out, and I quote, that no American official has ever denied it, 
and went on to say, and I quote, I think we, the U.S. Government, owe 
you, our fellow citizens, a more frank and honest way of discussing 
this problem.
  Ambassador Evans was merely recounting the historical record, which 
has been attested to by over 120 Holocaust and genocide scholars from 
around the world. By doing this, he earned a prestigious award that was 
taken from him because of politics and denial.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to add my voice to all those who, in Ambassador 
Evans' own words, and again I am quoting, think it is unbecoming of us 
as Americans to play word games here. I believe in calling things by 
their name. Evans was right, and the American Foreign Service 
Association was correct in awarding him the Christian A. Herter Award. 
We should encourage our Ambassadors to speak the truth, and, more 
broadly, end, once and for all, our complicity in Turkey's campaign of 
genocide denial.
  Mr. Speaker, Ambassador Evans has been penalized for simply telling 
the truth. The American Foreign Service Association has set a terrible 
example by retracting Ambassador Evans' award. I guess, even in 
America, the Turkish Government is able to stifle debate.

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