BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 31|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AJR 31
Author: Aghazarian (R)
Amended: 5/22/03 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE RULES COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/11/03
AYES: Karnette, Knight, Johnson, Burton
ABSENT/ABSTAINING/NOT VOTING: Romero
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/22/03 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Assyrians in Iraq
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution declares that it is a matter of
urgent and enduring importance that Assyrians be given a
seat of recognition at the table during negotiations
regarding the postconflict restructuring in Iraq. Urges
California's United States (U.S.) Senators and Members of
the Representatives to take all necessary steps to ensure
that this matter is addressed at the highest levels of the
federal government.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following
legislative findings:
1. Assyrians are Semitic people indigenous to Mesopotamia
and distinct from Arabs and Jews.
2. It is in Assyria that civilization itself was developed
CONTINUED
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and handed down to future generations. It is here where
the first steps in the cultural unification of the
Middle East were taken by bringing under Assyrian rule
the diverse groups in the area.
3. The concept of imperial administration, dividing land
into territories administered by local governors who
reported to the central authority, came from Assyria.
This fundamental model of administration has survived to
this day, as can be seen in our federal-state system.
4. Assyrians are also believed to have helped originate the
use of locks on doors, the sexagesimal system of time,
and driving on paved roads. Other developments believed
to have originated in Assyria include the postal system,
the first use of iron, the first magnifying glasses, the
first libraries, the first plumbing and flush, the first
electric batteries, the first guitars, the first
aqueducts and the first arch.
5. During the 20th century, Assyrians suffered massive
genocide, lost control of their ancestral lands, and are
now in a struggle of survival facing acts of aggression,
assassination and intimidation since the end of the Gulf
War in 1991.
6. With continued attempts by the Iraqi opposition to
marginalize legitimate Assyrian representation in
ongoing deliberations about the future of Iraq, three
Members of the U.S. Congress sent a terse letter in 1999
to the U.S. State Department expressing concern about
the undemocratic nature of Iraqi National Assembly
meetings. The three members are Rod Blagojevich
(D-Illinois), Anna Eshoo (D-California), and Frank Wolf
(R-Virginia).
7. An estimated 350,000 Assyrians have migrated to the
United States, many of them concentrated in the
Turlock-Modesto-Ceres areas and in Detroit and Chicago.
They brought with them farming and business skills,
entrepreneurial ideas, capital, and their religious
heritage.
8. Considering the ancestral history of the Assyrians in
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Iraq, it is a matter of urgent and enduring importance
that Assyrians be given a seat of recognition at the
table during negotiations regarding the postconflict
restructuring in Iraq.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/5/03)
St. Mary's Assyrian Church
Visionary, Inc.
500 individuals
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Berg, Bermudez, Bogh,
Calderon, Campbell, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn,
Corbett, Correa, Cox, Diaz, Dutra, Dutton, Dymally,
Firebaugh, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman,
Haynes, Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Houston, Jackson,
Keene, Kehoe, Koretz, La Malfa, La Suer, Laird, Leno,
Leslie, Levine, Lieber, Liu, Longville, Lowenthal,
Maddox, Maldonado, Matthews, Maze, McCarthy, Montanez,
Mountjoy, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nakano, Nation, Negrete
McLeod, Nunez, Oropeza, Pacheco, Parra, Pavley, Plescia,
Reyes, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Runner, Salinas,
Samuelian, Simitian, Spitzer, Steinberg, Strickland,
Vargas, Wiggins, Wolk, Wyland, Yee, Wesson
DLW:sl 6/12/03 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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