Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

Armenian Americans may have helped block a Gore Presidency
by Hratch Manuelian - November 9, 2000
Posted: Saturday, November 11, 2000 03:10 am CST

• Overnight Survey Reports over 80% of Florida Armenian Voters Were Influenced by Clinton-Gore Administration's Opposition to the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

Washington, DC: The Clinton-Gore Administration's role in blocking a vote on the Congressional Armenian Genocide resolution (H.Res.596) this October may have cost Vice President Al Gore several thousand Armenian American votes that would have tilted both Florida and the national electoral college in his favor, according to the National Organization of Republican Armenians (NORA).

Two days after the actual balloting, with the Florida vote recount still under way and a court challenge possible, the presidential election may be decided by less than 2,000 Florida votes. With the electoral vote count at 260 for Gore and 246 for Bush, Florida's 25 electoral votes will provide the margin for the eventual winner.

"With seven churches and large communities in Dade County, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and throughout the state, the 18,000 members of the Florida Armenian community may very well prove to be the decisive factor in denying the presidency to Vice President Al Gore," said NORA Chairwoman Melanie Kerneklian. "We have, for the past two years, educated Armenian American voters about how both Clinton and Gore have blocked, attacked, or ignored just about every issue of concern to our community. It looks like our efforts have paid off."

A post-election telephone survey of Florida Armenians conducted by NORA found that the widespread disappointment in recent weeks among Armenian Americans over the Clinton-Gore Administration's strident attacks on the Armenia Genocide resolution transferred largely to the Gore campaign, which already was already saddled with high negatives due to the Clinton Gore Administration policies on a range of other foreign aid and foreign policy issues.

Of those surveyed, over eighty percent of those who voted on November 7th reported that their decision was either "influenced" or "heavily influenced" by the Clinton-Gore Administration's position on the Armenian Genocide resolution. These figures were only marginally higher for self-reported Republicans, indicating that the Genocide issue crosses party identification lines.

In recent years, NORA has pointed out that the Clinton-Gore Administration:

• Failed to live up to their 1992 campaign statement on the Armenian Genocide and stridently opposed legislation to commemorate the 1.5 million Armenian victims of this tragedy.
• Failed to take any serious steps to lift the six-year Turkish blockade of Armenia.
• Repeatedly waived the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, specifically adopted by Congress to restrict U.S. aid to nations, such as Turkey which is obstructing the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid to Armenia.
• In alliance with the oil industry, strengthened Azerbaijan's blockade of Armenia and Karabagh by seeking to repeal Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which restricts aid to Azerbaijan until it lifts these illegal blockades.
• Proposed sharp reductions in Congressional funding levels for Armenia, and even lobbied against sending any direct U.S aid to Nagorno Karabagh.
• Used diplomatic, economic, and political pressure to strip Nagorno Karabagh of its independence and force its return to Azerbaijani control.

Commenting on the Clinton-Gore record back in September of 1998, NORA Chairwoman Melanie Kerneklian said: "This Administration's record on Armenian issues is appalling. President Clinton, with the ardent support of Vice-President Al Gore, has stridently pursued one anti-Armenian initiative after another -- from denying the Armenian Genocide to turning a blind eye to the Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades of Armenia.

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