Senator Lindsey Graham blocks Armenian Genocide resolution after meeting with US, Turkish presidents
Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., blocked a congressional resolution Wednesday that would have recognized the Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Turks hours after he and President Trump met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington D.C., Fox News reported.
Graham objected to passing H.Res.296, according to The Hill, saying senators shouldn’t “sugarcoat history or try to rewrite it”.
“I just met with President Erdogan and President Trump about the problems we face in Syria by the military incursion by Turkey. I do hope that Turkey and Armenia can come together and deal with this problem”, Graham said on the Senate floor as quoted by Fox News.
Meanwhile, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Robert Menendez (D-NJ) asked for a “unanimous consent” vote to immediately adopt the Armenian Genocide Resolution (S.Res.150), the Senate version of the resolution the House adopted 405 to 11, establishing ongoing American remembrance of this crime, ANCA reported.
Sen. Menendez took to the floor an hour after Turkey’s President Erdogan appearance in a joint White House press conference with President Trump, during which Erdogan attacked US House passage of Armenian Genocide Resolution, noting that this vote “hurt deeply the Turkish nation.”
Sen. Menendez took to the floor an hour after Turkey’s President Erdogan appearance in a joint White House press conference with President Trump, during which Erdogan attacked US House passage of Armenian Genocide Resolution, noting that this vote “hurt deeply the Turkish nation.”
“I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 150 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate,” said Menendez. The “unanimous consent” request, if unopposed, would allow for an immediate Senate vote on a resolution.
