His stated reason for not doing so is a request by President Clinton that it not be considered. Mr. Speaker, the State Department and President Clinton have opposed recognition of the Armenian Genocide from day one. We all know that the State Department repeatedly uses national security as the reason to oppose most things Armenian. What's really going on here is that the Speaker and the President, and therefore the government of these United States both executive and legislative have succumbed to the threats of the Turkish government, threats by that government against American soldiers. This is shameful.
Turkey is a bully.
We have America, the most powerful country in the world, being told by the Republic of Turkey what we can talk about and what we can think. Not only with regard to human rights violations, but with regard to the most heinous crime against humanity - genocide. I'd like to know what kind of ally threatens American lives if it doesn't get its way. With friends like that, as the saying goes, who needs enemies. It's not as if Turkey's membership in NATO and assistance as part of the NATO Alliance only helps the US Turkey allows NATO to use its bases against Iraq because of Iraq's threat to Turkey, not Iraq's threat to the United States.