[House Report 106-933]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     106-933

======================================================================



 
   AFFIRMATION OF THE UNITED STATES RECORD ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE 
                               RESOLUTION

                                _______
                                

  October 4, 2000.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Gilman, from the Committee on International Relations, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                       [To accompany H. Res. 596]

    The Committee on International Relations, to whom was 
referred the resolution (H. Res. 596) calling upon the 
President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United 
States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity 
concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, 
and genocide documented in the United States record relating to 
the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment 
and recommend that the resolution be agreed to.
    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This resolution may be cited as the ``Affirmation of the United 
States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

  The House of Representatives finds the following:
          (1) The Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by 
        the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the 
        deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 
        men, women, and children were killed, 500,000 survivors were 
        expelled from their homes, and which succeeded in the 
        elimination of the over 2,500-year presence of Armenians in 
        their historic homeland.
          (2) On May 24, 1915, the Allied Powers, England, France, and 
        Russia, jointly issued a statement explicitly charging for the 
        first time ever another government of committing ``a crime 
        against humanity''.
          (3) This joint statement stated ``[i]n view of these new 
        crimes of Turkey against humanity and civilization, the Allied 
        Governments announce publicly to the Sublime Porte that they 
        will hold personally responsible for these crimes all members 
        of the Ottoman Government, as well as those of their agents who 
        are implicated in such massacres''.
          (4) The post-World War I Turkish Government indicted the top 
        leaders involved in the ``organization and execution'' of the 
        Armenian Genocide and in the ``massacre and destruction of the 
        Armenians''.
          (5) In a series of courts-martial, officials of the Young 
        Turk Regime were tried and convicted, as charged, for 
        organizing and executing massacres against the Armenian people.
          (6) The chief organizers of the Armenian Genocide, Minister 
        of War Enver, Minister of the Interior Talaat, and Minister of 
        the Navy Jemal were all condemned to death for their crimes, 
        however, the verdicts of the courts were not enforced.
          (7) The Armenian Genocide and these domestic judicial 
        failures are documented with overwhelming evidence in the 
        national archives of Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, 
        Russia, the United States, the Vatican and many other 
        countries, and this vast body of evidence attests to the same 
        facts, the same events, and the same consequences.
          (8) The United States National Archives and Record 
        Administration holds extensive and thorough documentation on 
        the Armenian Genocide, especially in its holdings under Record 
        Group 59 of the United States Department of State, files 867.00 
        and 867.40, which are open and widely available to the public 
        and interested institutions.
          (9) The national archives of Turkey should also include all 
        of the records pertaining to the indictment, trial, and 
        conviction of the Ottoman authorities responsible for the 
        Armenian Genocide.
          (10) The Honorable Henry Morgenthau, United States Ambassador 
        to the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916, organized and led 
        protests by officials of many countries, among them the allies 
        of the Ottoman Empire, against the Armenian Genocide.
          (11) Ambassador Morgenthau explicitly described to the United 
        States Department of State the policy of the Government of the 
        Ottoman Empire as ``a campaign of race extermination'', and was 
        instructed on July 16, 1915, by United States Secretary of 
        State Robert Lansing that the ``Department approves your 
        procedure . . . to stop Armenian persecution''.
          (12) Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 of February 9, 1916, 
        resolved that ``the President of the United States be 
        respectfully asked to designate a day on which the citizens of 
        this country may give expression to their sympathy by 
        contributing funds now being raised for the relief of the 
        Armenians'', who at the time were enduring ``starvation, 
        disease, and untold suffering''.
          (13) President Wilson concurred and also encouraged the 
        formation of the organization known as Near East Relief, 
        chartered by an Act of Congress, which contributed some 
        $116,000,000 from 1915 to 1930 to aid the Armenian Genocide 
        survivors, including 132,000 orphans who became foster children 
        of the American people.
          (14) Senate Resolution 359, dated May 11, 1920, stated in 
        part, ``the testimony adduced at the hearings conducted by the 
        sub-committee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations have 
        clearly established the truth of the reported massacres and 
        other atrocities from which the Armenian people have 
        suffered''.
          (15) The resolution followed the April 13, 1920, report to 
        the Senate of the American Military Mission to Armenia led by 
        General James Harbord, that stated ``[m]utilation, violation, 
        torture, and death have left their haunting memories in a 
        hundred beautiful Armenian valleys, and the traveler in that 
        region is seldom free from the evidence of this most colossal 
        crime of all the ages''.
          (16) Setting the stage for the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler, on 
        ordering his military commanders to attack Poland without 
        provocation in 1939, dismissed objections by saying ``[w]ho, 
        after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the 
        Armenians?''.
          (17) Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term ``genocide'' in 
        1944, and who was the earliest proponent of the Genocide 
        Convention, invoked the Armenian case as a definitive example 
        of genocide in the 20th century.
          (18) Raphael Lemkin described the crime as ``the systematic 
        destruction of whole national, racial or religious groups. The 
        sort of thing Hitler did to the Jews and the Turks did to the 
        Armenians''.
          (19) The first resolution on genocide adopted by the United 
        Nations at Lemkin's urging, the December 11, 1946, United 
        Nations General Assembly Resolution 96(1) and the United 
        Nations Genocide Convention itself recognized the Armenian 
        Genocide as the type of crime the United Nations intended to 
        prevent by codifying existing standards.
          (20) In 1948 the United Nations War Crimes Commission invoked 
        the Armenian Genocide ``precisely . . . one of the types of 
        acts which the modern term `crimes against humanity' is 
        intended to cover'' as a precedent for the Nuremberg tribunals.
          (21) The Commission stated that ``[t]he provisions of Article 
        230 of the Peace Treaty of Sevres were obviously intended to 
        cover, in conformity with the Allied note of 1915 . . ., 
        offenses which had been committed on Turkish territory against 
        persons of Turkish citizenship, though of Armenian or Greek 
        race. This article constitutes therefore a precedent for 
        Article 6c and 5c of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Charters, and 
        offers an example of one of the categories of `crimes against 
        humanity' as understood by these enactments''.
          (22) The United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted in 
        1985 a report entitled ``Study of the Question of the 
        Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide'', which 
        stated ``[t]he Nazi aberration has unfortunately not been the 
        only case of genocide in the twentieth century. Among other 
        examples which can be cited as qualifying are . . . the Ottoman 
        massacre of Armenians in 1915-1916''.
          (23) This report also explained that ``[a]t least 1 million, 
        and possibly well over half of the Armenian population, are 
        reliably estimated to have been killed or death marched by 
        independent authorities and eye-witnesses. This is corroborated 
        by reports in United States, German and British archives and of 
        contemporary diplomats in the Ottoman Empire, including those 
        of its ally Germany''.
          (24) The tragedy of the Armenian Genocide has been 
        acknowledged by countries and international bodies such as 
        Argentina, Belgium, Canada, the Council of Europe, Cyprus, the 
        European Parliament, France, Great Britain, Greece, Lebanon, 
        Russia, the United Nations, the United States, and Uruguay.
          (25) The United States Holocaust Memorial Council, an 
        independent Federal agency, unanimously resolved on April 30, 
        1981, that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum would 
        include the Armenian Genocide in the Museum and has since done 
        so.
          (26) President Reagan in proclamation number 4838, dated 
        April 22, 1981, stated in part ``like the genocide of the 
        Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians, which 
        followed it--and like too many other persecutions of too many 
        other people--the lessons of the holocaust must never be 
        forgotten''.
          (27) President Bush, in 1988, speaking of the Armenian 
        Genocide, stated ``we must consciously and conscientiously 
        recognize the genocides of the past--the enormous tragedies 
        that have darkened this century and that haunt us still. We 
        must not only commemorate the courage of the victims and of 
        their survivors, but we must also remind ourselves that 
        civilization cannot be taken for granted. . . . We must all be 
        vigilant against this most heinous crime against humanity''.
          (28) President Bush, in 1988, stated further ``[t]he United 
        States must acknowledge the attempted genocide of the Armenian 
        people in the last years of the Ottoman Empire, based on the 
        testimony of survivors, scholars, and indeed our own 
        representatives at the time, if we are to insure that such 
        horrors are not repeated''.
          (29) President Clinton, on August 13, 1992, stated ``[t]he 
        Genocide of 1915, years of communist dictatorship, and the 
        devastating earthquake of 1988 have caused great suffering in 
        Armenia during this century''.
          (30) Reviewing an aberrant 1982 expression (later retracted) 
        by the United States Department of State asserting that the 
        facts of the Armenian Genocide may be ambiguous, the United 
        States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1993, 
        after a review of documents pertaining to the policy record of 
        the United States, noted that the assertion on ambiguity in the 
        United States record about the Armenian Genocide ``contradicted 
        longstanding United States policy and was eventually 
        retracted''.
          (31) Despite the international recognition and affirmation of 
        the Armenian Genocide, the failure of the domestic and 
        international authorities to punish those responsible for the 
        Armenian Genocide is a reason why similar genocides have 
        recurred and may recur in the future, and that a proper 
        judicial and firm response, holding the guilty accountable and 
        requiring the prompt enforcement of verdicts would have spared 
        humanity needless suffering.
          (32) In a commendable letter on April 9, 1999, Ambassador 
        Stuart Eizenstat, then Under Secretary of State for Economic, 
        Business, and Agricultural Affairs, pledged that the 
        administration would raise with the Republic of Turkey the 
        issue of the recovery of Armenian assets from the genocide 
        period held by the Imperial Ottoman Bank.
          (33) It is important that the President ensure that the 
        foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate 
        understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to 
        human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the 
        United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide and the 
        consequences of the failure to enforce the judgments of the 
        Turkish courts against the responsible officials.

SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

  The House of Representatives--
          (1) calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign 
        policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding 
        and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, 
        ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States 
        record relating to the Armenian Genocide and the consequences 
        of the failure to enforce the judgments of the Turkish courts 
        against the responsible officials;
          (2) calls upon the President in the President's annual 
        message commemorating the Armenian Genocide issued on or about 
        April 24 to characterize the systematic and deliberate 
        annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide and to recall 
        the proud history of United States intervention in opposition 
        to the Armenian Genocide; and
          (3) calls upon the President in the President's annual 
        message commemorating the Armenian Genocide to state that the 
        modern day Republic of Turkey did not conduct the Armenian 
        Genocide, which was perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire.

                         Background and Purpose

    H. Res. 596, the ``Affirmation of the United States Record 
on the Armenian Genocide Resolution,'' was introduced on 
September 27, 2000 by Mr. Radanovich (for himself and Mr. 
Bonior). The resolution calls upon the President to ensure that 
the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate 
understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to 
human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the 
United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide. It 
relates facts and statements that would serve to support the 
conclusion that the deaths of hundreds of thousands of ethnic 
Armenians over a period of several years starting in 1915 in 
regions controlled by the former Ottoman Empire were the result 
of a purposeful campaign of genocide against the Armenian 
nation. It declares that the United States House of 
Representatives calls on the President to ensure that the 
foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate 
understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to 
human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the 
United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide and the 
consequences of the failure to enforce the judgements of the 
Turkish courts against the responsible officials; calls on the 
President to characterize the systematic and deliberate 
annihilation of one and one-half million Armenians as genocide 
and to recall the proud history of United States intervention 
in opposition to the Armenian Genocide in an annual message 
commemorating the Armenian Genocide; and calls on the 
President, in his annual message concerning the Armenian 
Genocide, to state that the modern-day Republic of Turkey did 
not conduct the Armenian Genocide, which was perpetrated by the 
former Ottoman Empire.

  THE FORMER OTTOMAN GOVERNMENT AND THE GROWING ARMENIAN NATIONALIST 
                                MOVEMENT

    As the 19th Century drew to a close, ethnic Armenian 
citizens of the Ottoman and Russian Empires became increasingly 
interested in creating a new, independent, Armenian state, at a 
time when other ethnic groups across Eurasia sought to create 
or resurrect their own nation-states. The hoped-for Armenian 
state would, by necessity, consist of territory then held by 
the Russian Empire in the Caucasus region and of territory then 
held by the Ottoman Empire in the eastern portion of Anatolia. 
The ruling authorities of the Ottoman Empire and of the ``Young 
Turk'' government that came to power both viewed such Armenian 
nationalism with concern, in light of the contraction of the 
Empire's borders as territories that had long been ruled by the 
Empire successfully rebelled against it, particularly in the 
Balkans region.

         OTTOMAN GOVERNMENT MEASURES AIMED AT ETHNIC ARMENIANS

    The advent of the First World War in late 1914 proved the 
spark that touched off a cycle of violence between the Ottoman 
authorities and the ethnic Armenian minority. The ``Young 
Turk'' Ottoman government entered World War I on the side of 
the former Prussian and Austro-Hungarian Empires against 
Britain, France and the former Russian Empire. Emergency 
requisitions (confiscations) of civilian possessions to support 
the war effort led to clashes between Armenian citizens and the 
Ottoman police and military forces. The Ottoman authorities 
also ordered the deportation of ethnic Armenians from the 
eastern and southeastern provinces (the eastern Anatolia 
region) early in the war, out of concern that Armenians might 
engage in separatism and collaboration with Russian forces in 
support of an Armenian nation-state. As additional measures, 
ethnic Armenian soldiers were demobilized, arrested, or sent on 
work details, and, in April 1915, the Ottoman Interior Ministry 
authorized the arrest of any Armenian community and political 
leaders suspected of nationalist sentiments. In late May of 
1915, a Temporary Law on Deportations authorized the Ottoman 
army to deport all populations (without specifying ethnic 
Armenians or any other group) that were suspected of espionage 
or treason or if such deportation was a military necessity. 
Laws enacted in June and September of 1915 expropriated 
(confiscated) the goods and assets left behind by such deported 
populations (again, not specifically naming ethnic Armenians or 
any other group).

                     THE DEATHS OF ETHNIC ARMENIANS

    The deportations of ethnic Armenians from the eastern and 
southeastern Ottoman provinces (the eastern Anatolia region) 
that began in 1914 soon led to massacres of ethnic Armenians 
and the deaths of Armenians from starvation and other 
privations as they were sent on forced marches. The fate of 
many of those ethnic Armenian soldiers demobilized, arrested, 
or sent on work details has never been discovered and the 
arrests of Armenian community and political leaders in mid-1915 
were followed by the execution of most of those arrested, even 
though no official charges had been brought against them. The 
1915 Temporary Law on Deportations led to the deportation of 
most Armenian citizens from what is today modern-day Turkey. 
Many of those Armenians deported never, in fact, reached the 
region of the lower Euphrates River to the south of Turkey (the 
area of present day Iraq and Kuwait), which was the official 
destination of their resettlement. The United States Ambassador 
to the Ottoman Empire at the time, Mr. Henry Morgenthau, later 
wrote that: ``When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for 
these deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant 
to a whole race.'' While there is no definitive estimate of 
those ethnic Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire who died 
as a result of the forced marches, executions, and battles, 
Armenians around the world believe that the total number of 
such victims ranges from 800,000 to 1.5 million.

                 H. RES. 596 AND U.S.-TURKISH RELATIONS

    The Committee considered public testimony and private 
correspondence offered by representatives of the United States 
Department of State, Members of Congress, and former United 
States foreign policymakers, who have argued that it is 
important to United States national interests that the United 
States respect the Turkish government's assertions that, 
although many ethnic Armenians died during World War I, no 
genocide took place. Such witnesses, Members of Congress and 
retired policymakers point to various aspects of U.S.-Turkish 
relations in making that argument, including the following. 
Turkey is a member of the U.S.-led NATO alliance. Turkey 
borders on several Middle Eastern states of importance to the 
United States in its efforts to support the state of Israel and 
bring peace to the Middle East (Iraq, Iran and Syria). Turkey 
enforces United Nations sanctions on the Iraqi regime of Saddam 
Hussein and allows U.S. and NATO aircraft to patrol Northern 
Iraq from its bases. Turkey also plays a key role in 
international and NATO-led efforts to address instability in 
the nearby regions of the Balkans and the Caucasus, and has 
deployed peacekeeping forces in the Balkans. Turkey's trade 
with the United States has grown considerably, and it is 
recognized by the U.S. as an emerging, major market for U.S. 
exports. The United States and Turkey have worked closely over 
the past few years to arrange construction of oil and gas 
pipelines out of the Caucasus and Central Asia to ports on 
Turkey's coast, thereby expanding access to the two regions' 
vast energy reserves while avoiding Russian or Iranian control, 
and possible manipulation, of such pipelines. Turkey has 
alsosigned and implemented a military cooperation agreement with 
Israel, unprecedented for a Muslim state.
    U.S. policymakers have also pointed out the increasing 
instability of the Turkish government in recent years, caused, 
in part, by the growing strength of Islamic fundamentalist and 
Turkish nationalist political movements in Turkey. Such 
policymakers fear that official U.S. recognition or 
determination of the events in the former Ottoman Empire in and 
after 1915 to have been a genocide could undermine pro-American 
elements in Turkey and provide Turkish nationalist and 
fundamentalist Islamic movements greater political influence 
within Turkey, to the ultimate detriment of both the U.S. and 
Armenia.
    In the final instance, the majority of the Committee's 
Members came to a decision to support passage of the resolution 
with certain amendments intended to make it clear that the 
present-day Republic of Turkey did not carry out the genocidal 
actions conducted by its predecessor, the former Ottoman 
Empire.

History of recent congressional consideration of resolutions related to 
        the ``Armenian Genocide''

    [94th Congress (1975-76)--The House passed H.J. Res. 148, 
commemorating the ``Armenian Genocide,'' on April 8, 1975.]
    98th Congress (1983-84)--The House passed H.J. Res. 247, 
commemorating the ``Armenian Genocide,'' on September 10, 1984.
    99th Congress (1985-86)--On December 12, 1985, the House 
adopted a rule for consideration of H.J. Res. 328 to direct the 
President to proclaim April 24, 1986 as a national day of 
remembrance of ``man's inhumanity to man,'' especially the 
genocide said to have been committed against Armenians between 
1915 and 1923. The House rejected an amendment to specify that 
the genocide said to have been committed against Armenians 
occurred before the establishment of the present Republic of 
Turkey. The House did not act further on the resolution, 
however, leaving it as ``unfinished business.''
    100th Congress (1987-88)--On August 7, 1987, the House 
failed to adopt a rule to consider H.J. Res. 132, a resolution 
to designate April 24, 1987 as ``National Day of Remembrance of 
the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23.''
    101st Congress (1989-90)--No action was taken by the House 
on H.J. Res. 417, a resolution introduced to designate April 
24, 1990 as the ``National Day of Remembrance of the 75th 
Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.'' [A February 1990 effort 
to pass through the Senate S.J. Res. 212, a resolution entitled 
the ``National Day of Remembrance of the 75th Anniversary of 
the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23,'' failed in the face of a 
filibuster.]
    102nd Congress (1991-92)--No resolution introduced on the 
issue of the ``Armenian Genocide.''
    103rd Congress (1993-94)--No resolution introduced on the 
issue of the ``Armenian Genocide.''
    104th Congress (1995-96)--No action taken on H. Con. Res. 
47, a resolution to recognize the ``Armenian Genocide.'' On 
June 5, 1996, the House adopted an amendment to the Fiscal Year 
1997 Foreign Operations Appropriation Act to reduce aid to 
Turkey by $3 million (an estimate of its payment of lobbying 
fees in the U.S.) until the Turkish government acknowledged the 
Armenian genocide and took steps to honor the memory of its 
victims.
    105th Congress (1997-98)--No action taken on H. Con. Res. 
55, a resolution to recognize the ``Armenian Genocide.''
    106th Congress (1999-2000)--H. Res. 398, a resolution 
calling on the President to provide training on genocide to all 
U.S. Foreign Service officers by familiarizing them with U.S. 
records related to the Armenian Genocide and calling on the 
President to commemorate the Armenian Genocide, was introduced 
and subsequently the subject of a hearing and approved by the 
International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on 
International Operations and Human Rights on September 14, 
2000. H. Res. 596, a slightly modified version of H. Res. 398, 
was adopted by the International Relations Committee on October 
3, 2000.

Jurisdiction of the International Relations Committee

    Prior to the 104th Congress, ``Armenian Genocide'' 
resolutions were considered ``commemorative'' measures within 
the jurisdiction of the former House of Representatives' Post 
Office and Civil Service Committee. In the 104th Congress, that 
Committee was disbanded and such ``commemoratives'' were also 
prohibited under the Rules of the House of Representatives. 
Appropriately-worded measures ``noting'' certain occasions may 
still be introduced, however, despite the Rules of the House. 
Resolutions noting or recognizing the ``Armenian Genocide,'' 
worded in an appropriate fashion, are therefore now routinely 
referred to the International Relations Committee.

                            Committee Action

    H. Res. 596 was introduced by Representative Radanovich on 
September 27, 2000, and referred by the Speaker to the 
Committee on International Relations.
    A similar resolution, H. Res. 398, was introduced by 
Representative Radanovich on November 18, 1999 and referred to 
the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights 
on February 15, 2000. The Subcommittee on International 
Operations and Human Rights held a hearing on H. Res. 398 on 
September 14, 2000. Witnesses: Amb. Marc Grossman, Director 
General of the Foreign Service, Department of State; Dr. Justin 
McCarthy, Professor of History, University of Louisville; Dr. 
Robert F. Melson, Professor of Political Science, Purdue 
University; Dr. Roger W. Smith, Professor of Government, 
College of William and Mary; and Amb. Gunduz Suphi Aktan, 
Former Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey. The Subcommitteeon 
International Operations and Human Rights held a markup of H. Res. 398 
on September 21, 2000, forwarding the measure to the Full Committee by 
voice vote.
    On September 28 and October 3, 2000, the International 
Relations Committee marked up H. Res. 596, pursuant to notice, 
in open session.
    On September 28, 2000, the Committee adopted by voice vote 
an amendment by Mr. Tancredo that calls upon the President in 
the President's annual message commemorating the Armenian 
Genocide to state that the modern day Republic of Turkey did 
not conduct the Armenian Genocide, which was perpetrated by the 
Ottoman Empire.
    An amendment offered by Mr. Lantos providing a complete 
substitute for the resolution was ruled out of order as non-
germane and Mr. Lantos' appeal of the ruling of the Chair on 
the point of order was tabled (on motion of Mr. Radanovich) by 
voice vote (a recorded vote on the tabling motion, demanded by 
Mr. Lantos, having been refused).
    On October 3, 2000, the Committee received testimony during 
the markup from Representative Porter Goss, Chairman of the 
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; and Mr. 
Mehmet Ali Irtemcelik, Spokesman for the Turkish Parliamentary 
Delegation.
    An amendment offered by Mr. Burton that would have added 
language stating that U.S. national security interests are 
likely to be negated without the establishment of peace and 
reconciliation between the several successor states who 
comprised portions of the Ottoman Empire, but not necessarily 
limited to Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Armenia, and 
calls upon the President to initiate a policy of active 
engagement to promote peace and reconciliation in the region, 
was not agreed to by a rollcall vote of 15 to 19.
    An amendment offered by Mr. Rohrabacher to substitute a 
reference to ``Young Turk Government'' for a reference to the 
``government of the Ottoman Empire'' at one point in the 
resolution was agreed to by a rollcall vote of 34 to 0.
    Subsequently, the previous question was ordered by 
unanimous consent and, a quorum being present, the Committee 
agreed by record vote of 24 ayes to 11 noes, with 2 voting 
present, to a motion offered by Mr. Smith to favorably report 
the resolution, as amended, to the House of Representatives. A 
motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                             Rollcall Votes

    Clause (3)(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires that the results of each record vote 
on an amendment or motion to report, together with the names of 
those voting for or against, be printed in the committee 
report.

Description of amendment, motion, order, or other proposition (Votes 
        during markup of H. Res. 596--September 28 and October 3, 2000)

    Vote No. 1 (11:40 a.m.).--The Burton amendment adding 
language stating that U.S. national security interests are 
likely to be negated without the establishment of peace and 
reconciliation between the several successor states who 
comprised portions of the Ottoman Empire, but not necessarily 
limited to Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Armenia, and 
calls upon the President to initiate a policy of active 
engagement to promote peace and reconciliation in the region.
    Voting Yes: Bereuter, Burton, Ballenger, Sanford, Salmon, 
Houghton, Campbell, Brady, Burr, Gillmor, Cooksey, Tancredo, 
Lantos, Faleomavaega, and Pomeroy.
    Voting No: Gilman, Smith, Gallegly, Rohrabacher, Royce, 
Chabot, Radanovich, Gejdenson, Berman, Ackerman, Payne, 
Menendez, McKinney, Sherman, Rothman, Davis, Lee, Crowley, and 
Hoeffel.
    Ayes, 15. Noes, 19.
    Vote No. 2 (12:06 p.m.).--Rohrabacher amendment that 
replaces ``Young Turk Government'' with ``government of the 
Ottoman Empire'' at one point in the resolution.
    Voting Yes: Gilman, Bereuter, Smith, Burton, Gallegly, 
Ballenger, Rohrabacher, Royce, Chabot, Sanford, Salmon, 
Houghton, Campbell, McHugh, Brady, Burr, Gillmor, Radanovich, 
Cooksey, Tancredo, Gejdenson, Lantos, Berman, Ackerman, 
Faleomavaega, Menendez, McKinney, Hilliard, Sherman, Rothman, 
Davis, Lee, Crowley, and Hoeffel.
    Voting No: none.
    Ayes, 34. Noes, 0.
    Vote No. 3 (12:10 p.m.).--Smith motion to favorably report 
to the House of Representatives H. Res. 596, as amended.
    Voting Yes: Gilman, Smith, Gallegly, Ros-Lehtinen, 
Rohrabacher, Royce, Chabot, Campbell, McHugh, Radanovich, 
Tancredo, Gejdenson, Berman, Ackerman, Menendez, Brown, 
McKinney, Sherman, Rothman, Davis, Delahunt, Lee, Crowley, and 
Hoeffel.
    Voting No: Bereuter, Burton, Ballenger, Salmon, Houghton, 
Brady, Burr, Lantos, Faleomavaega, Danner, and Hilliard.
    Voting ``Present'': Sanford and Cooksey.
    Note.--The bill was ordered favorably reported, as amended, 
by a rollcall vote of 24 ayes to 11 noes, with 2 voting 
``present''.

                             Other Matters


                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee reports the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

                Committee on Government Reform Findings

    Clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires each committee report to contain a 
summary of the oversight findings and recommendations made by 
the Government Reform Committee pursuant to clause (4)(c)(2) of 
rule X of those rules. The Committee on International Relations 
has received no such findings or recommendations from the 
Committee on Government Reform.

                      Advisory Committee Statement

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this 
legislation.

                Applicability to the Legislative Branch

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Short title

    The bill may be cited as the ``Affirmation of the United 
States Record on the Armenian Genocide.''

Section 2. Findings

    States that a genocide was conceived and carried out by the 
Ottoman Empire against ethnic Armenians from 1915 to 1923, 
resulting in the deaths of one and one-half million Armenians 
and the deportation of one-half million more, eliminating 
Armenians from their homeland of 2,500 years;
    States that in May 1915 the Allied Powers of World War I 
charged the government of that Empire with a ``crime against 
humanity'' for the first time in history and stated that they 
would hold personally responsible for that crime all members of 
the Ottoman Government;
    States that the post-World War I Turkish Government itself 
indicted top leaders involved in the ``organization and 
execution'' of the Armenian Genocide and ``in the massacre and 
destruction of the Armenians,'' yet the verdicts won against 
those individuals in the courts, including death sentences, 
were not enforced;
    States that the United States National Archives and the 
archives of Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain and Russia 
hold a vast body of evidence and extensive and thorough 
documentation on the Armenian Genocide and that the national 
archives of Turkey should also include records related to those 
responsible for the Armenian Genocide;
    States that U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Henry 
Morgenthau led protests by various countries' officials against 
the Armenian Genocide and described to the State Department the 
policy of the government of the Ottoman Empire as a ``campaign 
of race extermination'';
    Refers to a Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 of February 9, 
1916 as resolving that the President should designate a day on 
which U.S. citizens might contribute funds for relief of the 
Armenians then experiencing untold suffering;
    States that U.S. President Wilson encouraged creation of 
the Near East Relief organization which contributed $116 
million in aid to the survivors of the Armenian Genocide from 
1915 to 1930;
    Refers to a Senate Resolution 359 of May 11, 1920 as 
stating that the truth of the reported massacres of Armenians 
had been established;
    States that Adolf Hitler had stated in 1939 in response to 
concerns over his pending invasion of Poland ``[w]ho, after 
all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?'';
    States that Rafael Lemkin, the earliest proponent of the 
Genocide Convention, invoked the Armenian case as a definitive 
example of genocide in the 20th century and that he described 
genocide as the sort of thing ``the Turks did to the 
Armenians'';
    States that the Armenian Genocide was identified as the 
kind of crime the United Nations wished to prevent when the 
U.N. adopted the first resolution on genocide on December 11, 
1946;
    States that the U.N. War Crimes Commission referred to the 
Armenian Genocide as the type of act the term ``crimes against 
humanity'' was intended to cover as a precedent for the 
Nuremberg tribunals;
    States that the U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopted a 
report in 1985 that stated that the Ottoman massacre of 
Armenians in 1915-16 was a case of genocide during the 20th 
century and that possibly well over half of the Armenian 
population, at least one million people, had been killed or 
death-marched;
    States that the Armenian Genocide has been acknowledged by 
countries and international bodies including the United States, 
Great Britain, the United Nations, the Council of Europe and 
others;
    States that the United States Holocaust Memorial Council 
has included the Armenian Genocide in the U.S. Holocaust 
Memorial Museum;
    Cites statements by Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush 
and Bill Clinton referring to the Armenian Genocide;
    Cites a 1993 United States Court of Appeals ruling that an 
assertion of ambiguity regarding the facts of the Armenian 
Genocide would contradict longstanding U.S. policy;
    States that United States Under Secretary of State Stuart 
Eizenstat pledged in April 1999 that the administration would 
raise with the Republic of Turkey the recovery of Armenian 
assets held by the Imperial Ottoman Bank at the time of the 
genocide period;
    States that it is important that the President ensure that 
the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate 
understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to 
human rights, ethnic cleansing and genocide documented in the 
United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide and the 
consequences of the failure to enforce the judgements of the 
Turkish courts against the responsible officials.

Section 3. Declaration of policy

    Calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy 
of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and 
sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic 
cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record 
relating to the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the 
failure to enforce the judgements of the Turkish courts against 
the responsible officials;
    Calls upon the President to characterize the systematic and 
deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide in 
any annual message issued to commemorate that event and to use 
that annual message to recall the proud history of the United 
States intervention in opposition to the Armenian Genocide;
    Calls upon the President to make it clear in his annual 
message commemorating the Armenian Genocide that the modern day 
Republic of Turkey did not conduct the Armenian Genocide, which 
was perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire.

    DISSENTING VIEWS OF MR. LANTOS, MR. BURTON, AND MR. FALEOMAVAEGA

    We share the majority's concern for the atrocities 
committed against the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire 
during the period 1915-1923 in which an estimated million and a 
half Armenians died. American Presidents have acknowledged this 
tragedy and have issued statements annually on April 24 on the 
Armenian Day of Remembrance. The Statement issued by President 
Clinton in April of this year is representative of the annual 
statements issued to commemorate that tragedy:

Statement of the President--April 24, 2000, Armenian Day of Remembrance

    Today we remember a great tragedy of the twentieth century: 
the deportations and massacres of roughly one and a half 
million Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. I 
join Armenians around the world, including the Armenian-
American community, in mourning the loss of those innocent 
lives. I also extend my sympathy to the survivors and their 
descendants for the hardships they suffered. I call upon all 
Americans to renew their commitment to build a world where such 
events are not allowed to happen again. The lesson we must 
learn from the stark annals of history is that we must forge a 
more humane future for the peoples of all nations.

    We believe that statement reflects the sentiments of all 
Americans, and they are sentiments which I share.
    At the same time, however, the statements in this 
resolution go beyond the factual evidence in terms of the role 
of the Ottoman government in perpetrating the atrocities that 
were committed. There has been a great deal said about 
``genocide'' and the direct involvement and instigation of the 
Ottoman government in the atrocities. While we do not wish to 
minimize in any way the enormity of the atrocities committed 
against the Armenian people, the statements in the resolution 
do go beyond the historical evidence of Ottoman involvement. 
The Ottoman government was weak and ineffectual and in the 
process of collapse at the time of these tragic events, but 
there are clear indications that the government itself did not 
order or instigate them.
    On July 13, 1921, the British Embassy in Washington sent a 
diplomatic message to the Secretary of State of the British 
Foreign Office in London. The British had detained Ottoman 
officials in Malta and were considering placing them on trial 
``in connection with the Armenian massacres.'' The British 
government requested access to diplomatic reports from American 
consular officials in the Ottoman Empire at the time of the 
atrocities against Armenia. The U.S. Department of State made 
available to the British government those reports which the 
Department judged the most useful in providing evidence of 
Ottoman officials inciting the violence against Armenians. 
After examining the most detailed and specific of the material 
in the State Department files, the British Embassy in 
Washington informed Lord Curzon, the British Secretary of 
State, that ``there was nothing there which could be used as 
evidence against the Turks who are being detained for trial at 
Malta. The reports, seen, while furnishing full accounts of the 
atrocities committed, made mention, however, of only two names 
of the Turkish officials in question * * * and in these cases 
were confined to personal opinions of these officials on the 
part of the writer, not concrete facts being given which could 
constitute satisfactory incriminating evidence.'' (Dispatch 
Number 722, July 13, 1921, from R.C. Craigie, British Embassy 
at Washington, to the Earl Curzon of Kedleston, Secretary of 
State, Foreign Office, London.)
    The most serious issue of concern to us is not the 
inaccuracies that are present in the text of this resolution, 
but much more importantly, the negative impact that adoption of 
this resolution will have not only upon United States relations 
with Turkey, but on a wide range of U.S. national interests in 
which Turkey is our active and necessary partner. These vital 
national interests include: continued strong, international 
efforts to contain Saddam Hussein, including the participation 
of the Turkish government in overflight of Northern Iraq; 
efforts to achieve peace and stability in Cyprus and in the 
Nagorno-Karabakh region; and Turkish engagement in the 
construction of a trans-Caucus oil pipeline to provide energy 
security into the future. Our commercial relationship with 
Turkey also could be put at risk by this ill-considered 
measure.
    Importantly, a number of current and former United States 
government officials with long experience in defense and 
national security issues have expressed very serious concern 
about the consequences of the adoption of this resolution. 
These expressions of concern are of such importance that we 
include them in this statement of minority views. The 
resolution reported from the Committee in International 
Relations is H. Res. 596, but administration views were 
requested by the Committee on an earlier version of that 
resolution--H. Res. 398. The new resolution differs from the 
earlier version in only minor respects.
                                ------                                


  Letter to the Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman, Committee on 
   International Relations, From Bipartisan Group of Former National 
             Security and Military Leaders, October 2, 2000

Hon. Benjamin Gilman,
Chairman, Committee on International Relations,
House of Representatives.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: We urge opposition to House Resolution 
596, recently passed by the Subcommittee on International 
Operations and Human Rights of the House International 
Relations Committee, concerning the attention which should be 
given by the President to the ``Armenian Genocide'' in American 
foreign policy.
    Whatever you or others may feel about the merits of this 
resolution, it is important to understand the real world 
consequences of its adoption. The potential for damage to U.S. 
interests in a vital region dramatically outweighs, in our 
judgement, any acknowledgment of past atrocities during World 
War I and its aftermath.
    Turkey's strategic location at the crossroads of Europe, 
the Middle East, the Caucasus, and the Balkans, as well as its 
unique position as the only Muslim democratic country with a 
vigorous market economy, places it at the center of U.S. short 
and long term strategic interests.
    Now is not the time to test the will of an indispensable 
ally which, for over forty years, has proven its loyalty and 
strategic importance. A staunch ally during the Cold War, 
Turkey will be even more crucial to U.S. security interests in 
the 21st century in a region plagued by new security 
challenges, including political instability, Islamic extremism, 
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and 
narcotics trafficking.
    Turkey's cooperation is essential to promote U.S. strategic 
interests in the region. Yet with the adoption of this 
resolution, no Turkish government will be able to be as 
forthcoming as in the past, given its public's strong 
sensitivities to events clouded by history. Consider the 
consequences:
     Iraq--Amid recent fears of increased Iraqi 
pressures on Kuwait reminiscent of the Gulf crisis in 1990, 
Turkey remains central to U.S.-led efforts to contain Iraqi 
aggression. Turkey continues to host U.S. and British forces 
participating in Operation Northern Watch as they enforce the 
no-fly zone in northern Iraq and protect the people there from 
Saddam. And it is continuing to impose sanctions against Iraq 
despite the fact that it has cost the Turkish economy over $35 
billion.
     The Newly Independent States--Turkey is a 
geostrategic bridge between the newly independent states of the 
Caucasus and Central Asia and the West. An energy 
transportation corridor through Turkey will prevent Russia or 
Iran from monopolizing strategic gas and oil reserves in the 
region.
     Regional Cooperation--Turkey's great strides in 
combating indigenous terrorism continue to be a model for other 
countries. The U.S. State Department has consistently praised 
Turkey for significant contributions in the fight against 
terrorism.
     The Balkans--Integral to our efforts to end ethnic 
bloodshed in the Balkans, Turkey participated in the air war in 
Kosovo and housed thousands of fleeing refugees. Turkey 
continues to help NATO secure a lasting peace in Kosovo by 
maintaining a 1,000-man brigade there and is helping stabilize 
Bosnia with its 700-man policing force.
     Relations with Israel--Turkey was the first Muslim 
country to establish relations with Israel over 50 years ago. 
Over the past ten years, this relationship has matured into a 
full-blown ``strategic partnership'' that includes joint 
military exercises.
    Passage of the resolution would strengthen the hand of 
those in Turkey who oppose Turkey's further integration into 
the West and would deliver a several blow to U.S. interests in 
the region. We urge you to carefully weigh the implications of 
this resolution and vote against wherever it may be considered, 
either in committee or on the House floor.
    Sincerely,
                    Frank Carlucci, Former Secretary of Defense; 
                            William J. Perry, Former Secretary of 
                            Defense; Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr., 
                            Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; 
                            General Alexander Haig, Former Secretary of 
                            State and Former Supreme Allied Commander 
                            for Europe; General Wesley K. Clark, Former 
                            Supreme Allied Commander for Europe; 
                            General George Joulwan, Former Supreme 
                            Allied Commander for Europe; Richard Allen, 
                            Former National Security Advisor.
                    Richard Perle, Former Assistant Secretary of 
                            Defense; General John Shalikashvili, Former 
                            Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff and Former 
                            Supreme Allied Commander for Europe; 
                            General Brent Scowcroft, Former National 
                            Security Advisor; James Woolsey, Former 
                            Director of Central Intelligence; General 
                            James Jamerson, Former Deputy Commander-in-
                            Chief, United States European Command; 
                            General John W. Vessey, Jr., Former 
                            Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
                                ------                                


     Letter to the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker, House of 
 Representatives, From Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen, September 28, 
                                  2000

Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
Speaker, House of Representatives
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker: I appreciated the opportunity to speak 
with you on H. Res. 398, the United States Training on and 
Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Resolution. As we 
discussed, I am concerned with the unintended harm passage of 
this Resolution could have on our efforts to build peace and 
stability in the region.
    In no way do I mean to downplay the Armenian tragedy. In 
recognition of that suffering, the U.S. Government has a 
tradition of commemorating Armenian Remembrance Day each April 
24, mourning the loss of innumerable Armenian lives and 
challenging all Americans to recommit themselves to ensuring 
that such events never again happen.
    However, passing judgment on this history through 
legislation could have a negative impact on Turkish-Armenian 
relations and on our security interests in the region, H. Res. 
398 would complicate our efforts to protect our interests in 
the region and sustain our positive relationship with Turkey; a 
strong and strategic ally.
    Again, I appreciated the opportunity to talk with you about 
this important issue. Please let me know if I can provide any 
further information to you on this manner.
            Sincerely,
                                                        Bill Cohen.
                                ------                                


  Letter to the Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman, Committee on 
  International Relations, From Assistant Secretary of State Barbara 
                         Larkin, July 13, 2000

Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman,
Chairman, Committee on International Relations,
House of Representatives.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter is to respond to your 
Committee's request for the Administration's views on H. Res. 
398, the ``United States Training on and Commemoration of the 
Armenian Genocide Resolution.'' Over the years, the Department 
of State has set forth its objections, in detail, to previous 
congressional resolutions on this issue. These objections 
remain no less valid today. In essence, the Administration 
believes that H. Res. 398 would complicate its efforts to build 
a peaceful, prosperous, and stable future for the people of the 
region.
    The Administration opposes legislative measures to deal 
with the sensitive issue raised in H. Res. 398. That the 
Armenian people endured horrible massacres and suffering during 
the First World War is beyond doubt. That the peoples of Turkey 
and Armenia must find a way to come to terms with their shared 
history is a principle we strongly support. But we also agree 
with the position adopted by other friends of both Armenia and 
Turkey, including France and Israel, that the question of how 
these massacres are characterized is best left to historians, 
and cannot be legislated from outside.
    The President and the Secretary of State ascribe great 
importance to the process of building peace, stability, and 
mutual confidence in the Caucasus region. Normalization of the 
Turkish-Armenian relationship is a vital element of any 
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, and thus of Armenia's future. H. 
Res. 398 would be likely to have the unintended effect of 
injuring ongoing efforts to improve relations between Turkey 
and Armenia. It would thus deal a severe setback to prospects 
for a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement between Armenia and 
Azerbaijan at an especially sensitive moment in the Minsk 
Group-sponsored peace process. The U.S. has a crucial role to 
play in nurturing a positive political climate in the region.
    The memory of the tragic massacres will be forever with us. 
President Clinton has preserved the tradition of commemorating 
Armenian Remembrance Day each April 24, issuing a solemn 
statement that mourns the loss of innocent Armenian lives and 
challenges all Americans to recommit themselves to ensuring 
that such events never occur again. We believe this is the most 
fitting and appropriate tribute to the victims of the 
massacres.
    The Office of Management and Budget advises that from the 
standpoint of the Administration's program there is no 
objection to the submission of this letter.
            Sincerely,
                                            Barbara Larkin,
                          Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs.
                                ------                                


  Letter to the Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman, Committee on 
   International Relations, From Undersecretary of Defense Walter B. 
                      Slocombe, September 20, 2000

Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman,
Chairman, Committee on International Relations, House of 
        Representatives, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to offer the views of the 
Department of Defense on H. Res. 398, the ``United States 
Training on and Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide 
Resolution.'' The Department of State conveyed to you in June 
the Administration's objections to this and previous 
resolutions on this issue, and the Administration's continuing 
opposition to legislative measures to deal with the sensitive 
issues raised in H. Res. 398. Ambassador Grossman reiterated 
these objections in recent testimony before the subcommittee on 
International Operations and Human Rights. We continue to be 
concerned that passage of H. Res. 398 would have substantial 
negative effects on our strategic interests in the region, 
complicating our effort to build peace and stability.
    There is no doubt that the Armenians suffered greatly 
during World War I. It is clearly in the interest of both the 
Turkish and Armenian peoples that they together come to terms 
with these events. President Clinton has continued the 
tradition of commemorating Armenian Remembrance Day each April 
24, mourning the loss of innumerable Armenian lives and 
challenging all Americans to recommit themselves to ensuring 
that such events never happen again. This is a fitting and 
appropriate tribute to the victims and a means of fostering 
awareness of this historic tragedy.
    However, passing judgment on this history through 
legislation could only have a negative impact on Turkish-
Armenian relations and on our security interests in the region. 
Turkey is important to U.S. defense interests because it is at 
the epicenter of many crucial United States security concerns 
and has actively supported United States interests. Turkey has 
faithfully guarded the southeast flank of NATO for almost 50 
years, and remains one of NATO's most steadfast members. Over 
2000 Turkish soldiers are deployed in Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania 
and Macedonia. Ankara supports our Iraq policy, a stance which 
has resulted in substantial economic costs to Turkey in lost 
trade. Operation Northern Watch, the enforcement of the 
northern no-fly zone over Iraq, continues to operate from the 
Turkish base at Incirlik.
    Further, as recent events have shown, it is difficult to 
overstate Turkey's strategic value. The Balkans, the Persian 
Gulf and much of the Middle East are within reach of Turkish 
bases. Syria, Iraq, Iran and the oil-rich but volatile Caucasus 
region lie along its borders. With key U.S. security interests 
implicated in each of these, our alliance and relationship with 
Turkey will only become more vital in the years ahead. H. Res. 
398 would complicate our efforts to build relationships and 
protect our interests in the region and sustain our positive 
relationship with a key, strategically placed ally.
    Thank you for considering our views in your deliberations 
on this legislation.
            Sincerely yours,
                                                Walter B. Slocombe.
                                ------                                

                                   Tom Lantos.
                                   Dan Burton.
                                   Eni Faleomavaega.
                                   Amo Houghton.
                                   Pat Danner.
                                   Kevin Brady.

                                
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