CA State Senate passes resolution honoring Near East Relief

PanARMENIAN.Net - The California State Senate unanimously passed Thursday, June 5, a resolution honoring and commending the extraordinary service of the Near East Relief and the American people who helped save over 132,000 orphans and provided humanitarian aid to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR).

AJR 41wasled by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De Leon a day after the Democratic Caucus voted for him to be the next president pro tem of the Senate.

“We congratulate Senate Pro Tem Kevin De Leon on his new position and sincerely thank him for his leadership in ensuring the prompt consideration and passage of AJR 41,” stated ANCA WR Chair Nora Hovsepian. “On the heels of the State Assembly’s passage of AJR 41, California’s acknowledgement of Near East Relief’s rescue of over one million Armenian orphans and refugees from Genocide as an important part of American history is now complete.”

Specifically, the resolution recognizes the Near East Relief organization and the unprecedented response by the United States to the Armenian Genocide of 1915 at the behest of President Woodrow Wilson and the United States State Department by instituting the first congressionally sanctioned American philanthropic effort created exclusively to rescue the Armenian nation and other Christian minorities from annihilation.

AJR 41 also calls on the Chief Clerk of the CA Assembly to 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.

“The work of the Near East Relief began with U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau and the formation of a committee and the launching of an unprecedented humanitarian effort to prevent the annihilation of the Armenian population in Turkey. Due to the efforts of Americans, including many Californians, thousands of orphans were rescued and cared for. It is an effort that we can all be proud of – a glorious page in our nation’s history and one that we should not forget,” said lead author of AJR 41 Assemblyman Ian Calderon.

Previously on the solemn day of April 24, 2014, 72 CA Assemblymembers joined in as co-authors of the AJR 41 then moved to unanimously pass the resolution. The vote was followed by a floor introduction of ANCA Western Region Executive Director Elen Asatryan, ANCA Western Region’s “America, We Thank You: An Armenian Tribute to Near East Relief” Committee Co-Chair Hermineh Pakhanians and Committee Member Arsho Beylerian for the organization’s efforts in spearheading the campaign.

“America We Thank You: An Armenian Tribute to Near East Relief,” is a movement to recognize the outpouring of generosity by the American people in the immediate aftermath of the Armenian Genocide (1915-1930) and to highlight the efforts of Near East Relief in rescuing and providing assistance to hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who were victims of the Genocide.