22 January 2007, 22:33
Bush may bypass the Senate and appoint Hogland the ambassador to Armenia
US president George Bush has again offered Richard Hogland to the Senate as the would-be US ambassador to Armenia.
The White House has stated a repeated nomination of Hogland despite protests of certain senators to approve the nomination because Hogland refuses to qualify the mass massacres of Armenians in 1915 as genocide.
These days, the largest lobbying organization - the Armenian Assembly of America - has disseminated its statement that hints indirectly that it would not longer stand against appointment of Richard Hogland to the position of US ambassador to Armenia.
Nevertheless, the Assembly has noted again that the official recognition of the Armenians' genocide by the United States is a must.
As a counter to the Armenian Assembly of America, another influential Armenian Lobbying organization - the Armenian National Committee of America - asserts that according to the data at its disposal, 97 percent of US Armenians are against Richard Hogland's appointment as the ambassador to Armenia.
We note here that under the US legislation, when the Senate is on vacations, the president may solely approve an ambassador, round about the Senate. The latter will be on vacations from February 18 to 25.
Author: Ashot Ter-Grigorian, CK correspondent
