Senator Robert Menendez Places Second Hold On Hoagland Nomination

[Aratta-Kingdom]

http://menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/record...?id=267461&

 

 

 

Thursday, January 11, 2007

 

 

 

WASHINGTON – United States Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today placed a second hold on the nomination of Richard E. Hoagland, the Bush administration’s nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. This is the second hold Menendez has placed on Hoagland’s nomination since last September.

 

The hold, a parliamentary privilege accorded to U.S. Senators, follows the Bush administration’s re-nomination of Hoagland to serve in this post – a move necessitated by the lapsing of Hoagland’s previous nomination last year.

 

“By all accounts, Ambassador Hoagland is a distinguished career Foreign Service Officer who has served America with distinction and honor during his time at the State Dept.,” Menendez said. “However, given the circumstances and controversy surrounding Mr. Hoagland's nomination, I believe that the best way to move forward would be for the president to nominate a new candidate for this ambassadorship.

 

“I also believe that the State Dept. and the Bush administration are just flat-out wrong in their refusal to recognize the Armenian genocide. It is well past time for American diplomacy to drop the euphemisms, the wink-wink, nod-nod brand of foreign policy that overlooks heinous atrocities committed around the world.

 

“If there is any sincerity behind the Bush administration’s rhetoric about ‘liberty on the march’ – if ‘never again’ is to be more than a bumper sticker slogan – then American diplomacy should consist of nothing less than unvarnished honesty with our friends and enemies alike. And we must call genocide by its name.”

 

Menendez and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) last month wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to withdraw the nomination of Richard E. Hoagland to be U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. Hoagland’s nomination has been beset by controversy from the outset. Menendez in September lodged a hold on Hoagland’s nomination, using a parliamentary privilege afforded to U.S. Senators that prevented the ambassador-designate’s confirmation by the full Senate. Because of this controversy, Menendez and Reid called on Secretary Rice to advance another candidate for consideration.

 

The Ottoman Empire brutally tortured and killed nearly 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923 and forced half a million Armenians to flee their homeland.

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

Yerkir.am

February 16, 2007

 

More than two hundred supporters of the Armenian National Committee

of New Jersey (ANC-NJ) were on hand this weekend for the granting of

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) with the grassroots organization's

prestigious Man of the Year award.

 

The ceremony took place on February 11, 2007 and was attended by

a cross-section of Armenian American leaders from the New York

metropolitan area, Armenian Church leaders, and Vahan Hovhannisyan,

deputy speaker of the Armenian Parliament.

 

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian reviewed the senator's strong

support for expanded U.S.-Armenia ties, his devotion to the proper

recognition of the Armenian Genocide, his energetic protests of the

unfair firing of the former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Marshall

Evans, for speaking truthfully about this crime, and - most recently

- the senatorial "hold" he has placed on the President's new nominee

for this post, Dick Hoagland, over his denial of this crime against

humanity.

 

In accepting the award, Sen. Menendez offered heartfelt remarks,

stating that, "despite denials by the Turkish Government, despite the

current Administration's position, we know, we know, the atrocities

committed between 1915 and 1923 constitute genocide." Noting that

countless historians had characterized the events of 1915 to 1923 as

genocide, he reminded those gathered of his unwavering support for

truth and justice.

 

[Arpa]

We spoke about the above subject in length under a variety of topics.

 

Here we go again.

Déjà vu all over again.

History repeats.

One wonders if it is Pres. Obama doing the nomination or pres. osmana??

Is the "tail wagging the dog"??

 

http://thewordin365.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/wag-the-dog.jpg

 

http://news.am/eng/news/60068.html

 

May 20, 2011 | 19:31

Obama’s nominee worked for anti-Armenian congressman – AAA

 

May 20, 2011 | 15:21

The Armenian Assembly of America commented on President Obama’s nominee to serve as an ambassador to Armenia John A. Heffern.

 

The Assembly recalls that in the mid-1990s, Heffern worked for former Congressman Doug Bereuter who was consistently one of the most pro-Turkish and anti-Armenian Representatives to serve in Congress.

 

“Without pre-judging nominee Mr. Heffern personally, he will have a steep hill to climb in explaining and distinguishing his views from those of former Congressman Bereuter. For example, in 1995-1996, when Heffern was on the Congressman’s International Relations Committee staff, Bereuter voted against several measures aimed to promote not only Armenia’s interests, but human rights interests around the world.

 

Heffern’s former boss also voted against an amendment to cut $25 million in aid to Turkey, which was proposed in reference to Turkey’s human rights violations and ongoing blockade of Armenia. Further, the Congressman voted against an amendment to cut aid to Turkey until it had “taken all appropriate steps to honor the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide,” reads Assembly’s statement.

 

The Assembly hopes Mr. Heffern can successfully climb that hill and represent America’s views and clear record, not only on the need to squarely recognize the Armenian Genocide and its consequences, but also on addressing Azerbaijan’s aggression against the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to ensure peace in the region with open borders, respect for human rights and commitment to democracy.

Edited May 20, 2011 by Arpa