Assembly Joint Resolution
No. 41
CHAPTER 61
Relative to the Armenian and Assyrian Genocide.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
June 10, 2014.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 41, Ian Calderon.
Armenian and Assyrian Genocide.
This measure would commend the extraordinary service delivered by Near East Relief to the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and the Assyrian Genocide.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, During the Armenian Genocide of 1915 through 1923, 1.5 million men, women, and children of Armenian descent lost their lives at the hands of the Young Turks regime then ruling the Ottoman Empire in its attempt to systematically eliminate the Armenian race; and
WHEREAS, In response to the Genocide and at the behest of President Woodrow Wilson and the United States State Department, the Near East Relief organization was founded and was provided unprecedented complete access to all United States Government documents and files concerning the plight of Christian minorities; and
WHEREAS, Near East Relief was the first congressionally sanctioned American philanthropic effort created exclusively to rescue the Armenian nation and other Christian minorities from annihilation after United States Ambassador to Constantinople, Henry A. Morgenthau, Jr., pled for assistance after personally witnessing the systematic massacre of Armenians; and
WHEREAS, Near East Relief’s efforts resulted in delivering $117 million in assistance between 1915 and 1930, including the delivery of food, clothing, and materials for shelter, and setting up refugee camps, clinics, hospitals, and orphanages; and
WHEREAS, The generous philanthropy of the American people, including many Californians, directly resulted in the salvation of the Armenian and Assyrian refugees and prevented them from being completely annihilated by the Genocide by saving more than one million refugees, including more than 130,000 orphans, through their humanitarian assistance; and
WHEREAS, Near East Relief evolved into the Near East Foundation in 1930, and continues to provide humanitarian aid to people throughout the Middle East and Africa; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California hereby commends the extraordinary service delivered by Near East Relief to the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and the Assyrian Genocide, including thousands of direct beneficiaries of American philanthropy who are the parents, grandparents and great-grandparents of many Californian Armenians and Assyrians; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.