Calif. Assembly unanimously approves Genocide Curriculum Bill

Despite heavy opposition by pro-Turkey lobbying groups, the California State Assembly on January 29 voted unanimously, to pass Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian’s bill, AB 659, encouraging schools to use oral histories when teaching about the Armenian Genocide, asbarez.com said. AB 659 will now move on to State Senate for consideration.

“The unanimous passage of AB 659 sends a strong message that California officials cannot be bought or bullied into denying truth and justice. The ANCA WR commends Assemblymembers Nazarian and Achadjian for spearheading through this important genocide education legislation and looks forward to working with them in garnering similar support in the State Senate,” stated Elen Asatryan, Executive Director of the ANCA-WR.

“AB 659 has enjoyed overwhelming support from my colleagues in the Assembly,” commented Assemblymember Nazarian, following the vote. “I look forward to continuing to work with the ANCA-WR to garner support from our counterparts in the Senate. The personal testimonies of Genocide survivors will give educators a powerful tool to engage students in the subject matter in ways they have never been taught before. If we expect to stop the genocides of the future, it is important that we strengthen the teaching mechanisms on past genocides,” he continued.

Joining Nazarian as co-authors AB 659 were State Senator Mark Wyland (R) and Assemblymembers Katcho Achadjian (R), Steve Fox (D), Mike Gatto (D), Scott Wilk (R), and Cheryl Brown (D). Other members of the State Assembly who spoke in support of the measure during the floor session were Assemblymembers Tim Donnelly (R) and Diane Harkey (R).