GOP Moves to Label Roman Empire Genocidal

(2007-10-12) — In the midst of a push by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, to pass a resolution labeling the Ottoman (Turk) Empire genocidal for the death of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915, House Republicans have introduced a bill condemning the Roman Empire for “the wholesale slaughter and domination of most of the known world from about 41 B.C. to 476 A.D.”

Rep. Pelosi, who often refers to her Italian heritage, called the GOP move “nothing short of a hate crime” and “a cynical effort by Republicans to overshadow what could be the first significant accomplishment of the Democrat Congressional majority.”

“The resolution to label the Armenians as victims of a Turkish genocide,” Rep. Pelosi said, “is not meant to antagonize one of our few allies in the middle east, and thus hamper U.S. efforts in Iraq, but is a genuine effort to hold accountable the long-dead perpetrators of this crime. We’re simply doing retroactively what the United Nations would have done if it had existed at the time.”

The Speaker said if the resolution passes, Democrats plan to push for sanctions against the Ottoman Empire, including a ban on sales of cavalry horses, Sopwith Camel fighter biplanes and Zeppelins.