Dick Cheney
Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th Street, NW, Suite 904, Washington, DC 20006
Tel. (202) 775-1918 * Fax. (202) 775-5648 * Email.anca@anca.org
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release ~ 2000-08-08
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian ~ Tel: (202) 775-1918
THE 2000 VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT:
DICK CHENEY AND JOE LIEBERMAN ON ARMENIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Washington, DC -- Vice-President Al Gore's official announcement earlier today naming Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman as his vice-presidential running-mate, only a week after Texas Governor George W. Bush's pick of former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney as the Republican vice-presidential candidate, provides Armenian American voters with important insights into the types of priorities and foreign policy approaches of the two candidates should they win the presidency this November.
Both Cheney and Lieberman have records on a number of Armenian American issues, ranging from the Armenian Genocide to Nagorno Karabagh to the Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan. Both have cast votes on these issues and spoken out - often forcefully - on U.S. policy toward Armenia, the Caucasus, and the Caspian region.
"The vice-presidential selections by both George W. Bush and Al Gore raise a number of questions about how they intend to direct our nation's foreign policy on issues of immediate and vital importance to Armenian Americans," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "To make an informed choice on election day, Armenian American voters will need answers to these questions * answers that the candidates can provide by completing the ANCA Presidential Questionnaire, located at www.anca.org."
The Democratic Candidate: Joseph Lieberman Two-term Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman has, over the past decade, cast three critical votes on the Senate floor against the Armenian American community, even as he has frequently spoken out in support of issues of concern to Armenian American voters. The first vote, less than two years after being elected in 1988, was against Senator Bob Dole's Armenian Genocide resolution (S.J.212). In February of that year, he voted to kill this measure despite the Connecticut Armenian community's extensive efforts to educate him on the Armenian Genocide and Lieberman's own insistence that American foreign policy be founded on moral principles.
Subsequently, however, in 1992, 1994, 1995, and 1996, he joined his colleagues on the Senate floor in honoring the victims of the Armenian Genocide, describing the event as one the 20th century's "greatest tragedies: the death of over 1.5 million Armenians and their exile from their homeland." In his 1996 comments, he spoke against efforts to deny the Genocide and explained the importance of yearly Congressional observances:
"We mark this date in history because it is so important that we remember. We must remember the Armenian Genocide and other abuses of state authority against ethnic minorities. We must remember all of the victims of crimes against humanity. Our memory, our vigilance, is essential to ensuring that these acts do not happen again, to Armenians or any other group."
Lieberman was an early and vocal supporter of the Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan. In speeches in the 1990s, the Senator was vocal in his support for the newly independent Republic of Armenia, and his opposition to Azerbaijani attacks against Nagorno Karabagh. He initiated and co-signed several letters to President George Bush, Secretary of State James Baker and later Secretary of State Warren Christopher condemning Azerbaijani aggression, supporting restrictions on U.S. relations with Azerbaijan, and expressing concern about the Turkish blockade of Armenia. In a statement on the Senate floor on July 24, 1990, Sen. Lieberman advocated the reunification of Nagorno Karabagh with Armenia, stating:
"What can America do to help Armenia? First, we should impress upon Soviet officials that it is vital that the blockade of Nagorno Karabagh be lifted indefinitely. We should urge that Nagorno-Karabagh should be eventually returned to the Armenian Republic. Until their eventual reunification, we should insist that the physical barriers be removed to enable Armenia and Karabagh to cooperate economically and culturally."
In a sharp break from the positive rhetorical record he established following his 1990 vote against the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Lieberman cast his second critical vote against the Armenian American community in 1995 when he voted against an amendment introduced by Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY) to reduce U.S. assistance to Turkey by over 50%, because of that country's continued blockade of Armenia and ongoing human rights abuses.
The third vote, in June of 1999, was against an amendment by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Spencer Abraham (R-MI), to maintain restrictions on U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan as mandated in Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. In casting this vote, Lieberman broke with the majority of Senate Democrats who support keeping these restrictions in place.
In October of last year, Lieberman joined thirteen of his Senate colleagues in co-sponsoring legislation introduced by Sen. Abraham condemning the violent attack in the Armenian Parliament that claimed the lives of Prime Minister Vazken Sarkissian, Parliament Chairman Karen Demirchian and several other members of the Armenian Government and urged that Congress "cherish the strong friendship between Armenia and the United States."
The Republican Candidate: Dick Cheney After serving as President Gerald Ford's Chief of Staff in November 1975, Dick Cheney was elected to the House of Representatives from the state of Wyoming in 1978, and served for six terms. During that time, Cheney voted against resolutions commemorating the Armenian Genocide both in 1985 and 1987. In 1995, Cheney joined the Halliburton Company, an oil and energy services corporation, and after his appointment as Chairman of the Board in 1996, worked extensively with the government of Azerbaijan on oil exploration ventures. Since that time, he has been a vocal advocate of efforts to repeal restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan despite that country's ongoing blockades of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh. In his keynote speech at a U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC) conference on February 18, 1997, Cheney stated:
"I must also say that I believe that our current policy prohibiting U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan is seriously misguided. In my experience, this kind of unilateral sanction, based primarily on U.S. domestic political considerations, is unwise. Such a policy limits U.S. influence in any given situation, and in this case, it reduces rather than enhances the prospects for ultimately resolving a very complex and important set of regional issues."
In 1997, Cheney, who serves as a member of the USACC "Honorary Council of Advisors," was awarded their "Freedom Support" award, for his "outstanding services to this organization [USACC] as well as contribution toward promoting peace, democracy, freedom and economic development in Azerbaijan and a closer cooperation between the United States and Azerbaijan."
Armenian National Committee of America
PRESS RELEASE
August 29, 2005
CHENEY FAILS TO EXPLAIN LETTER RECOGNIZING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
-- Vice President Sidesteps Query from Twenty-two Members of
Congress Regarding Reason for Letter to Genocide Survivor
WASHINGTON, DC - Vice President Dick Cheney has sidestepped a Congressional request for clarification regarding the reasons behind his forthright - although apparently mistaken - characterization of the Armenian Genocide in letter sent this April to survivor Maritza Ohanessian, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
In an April 22nd letter to Mrs. Ohanessian on the occasion of her 100th birthday, the Vice President had properly described the Armenian Genocide, a departure from the Administration's standard practice of using evasive or euphemistic terminology to downplay the true historical, legal, and contemporary geopolitical implications of this crime against humanity. In response to this letter, Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ) and twenty-one of his House colleagues asked the Vice President if this letter represented a formal shift in the Administration's policy. The Vice President's response, signed by his Principal Deputy for National Security Affairs John P. Hannah, simply notes that, "There has been no change in Administration policy on this issue," without any articulation of the nature of the policy.
"The Vice President should explain to Mrs. Ohanesian and all Armenian Americans why he sent this letter recognizing the Armenian Genocide but cannot now stand behind his words or even offer an explanation for his reversal," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We appreciate Congressman Rothman's leadership on this issue and want to thank all those who joined with him in this effort."
Joining Congressman Rothman as signatories to the June 23rd Congressional letter were Representatives Rob Andrews (D-NJ), Lois Capps (D-CA), Joe Crowley (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL), Sander Levin (D-MI), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), James McGovern (D-MA), Michael McNulty (D-NY), Richard Neal (D-MA), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mark Souder (R-IN), John Tierney (D- MA), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), and Peter Visclosky (D-IN).