The lead authors of the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the U.S. Congress today sent a letter, co-signed by 59 of their House colleagues, calling on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to renounce her recent public characterization of the Armenian Genocide as a "historical debate”.

In their letter to Secretary Clinton, the signatories noted that her, "historically inaccurate description of the Armenian Genocide as an open question, in addition to the offense it represents to Armenian Americans and other victims of genocide, provides American encouragement to the Republic of Turkey in its shameful campaign of denial."

They also reminded the Secretary that in 2006 she joined with President Obama - then a U.S. Senator - in writing a letter explaining to President Bush that the Armenian Genocide was a “systematic and deliberate campaign of genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

The Congressional letter also quotes then Senator Clinton's public statement in 2008 when, as a candidate for the presidency, she affirmed that: "The horrible events perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians constitute a clear case of genocide," and that "our common morality and our nation’s credibility as a voice for human rights challenge us to ensure that the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by the Congress and the President of the United States."