October 25, 2000 – "Imagine telling the Jews that this is the wrong time to condemn Hitler for the Holocaust," Serj Tankian, vocalist for the rock band System of a Down, said recently to music.com.

The comment was made upon being informed that House Resolution 596, or the Armenian Genocide Resolution, a bill that was to have had its final vote on the House floor last week, had been withdrawn at the request of President Clinton mere moments before adoption by the House. Clinton, who had Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert pull the bill from vote, raised "grave national security concerns" over the resolution, stressing that even the measure's consideration would pose a threat to American lives.

Tankian, however, feels differently. "How can Clinton let Turkey threaten him with the 'danger of the lives of American soldiers' stationed on U.S. bases in Turkey? And with Turkey ostensibly threatening the United States, what kind of an ally does that make them?" In the article, Tankian further claimed that Clinton's admonition to House Speaker Hastert to kill the resolution based on the current delicate situation in the Middle East is "a sham. The only fear is that we'll be pissing off the oil industry."

Speaker Hastert acknowledged that if the vote had taken place, the resolution "would have enjoyed support among the majority of the House." After suffering numerous delaying tactics by opponents, this was the closest that the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) had come to success in 30+ years.

"I think it's patriotic to love your country and to love justice and democracy," Tankian said. "President Clinton's doing neither."

Tankian and his fellow band members, all of Armenian descent, have been actively supporting H. Res. 596 which would officially recognize the 1.5 million Armenians who were brutally murdered or deported from their homeland by the Ottoman Empire during World War I. All four members of System lost family in this Holocaust that preceded Hitler's by at least a decade. This action has been denied and covered up by the Turkish Government, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Administration, and Turkey's allies in the defense and oil industries.

System of a Down will headline a benefit concert – "Souls: A Benefit for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide to Stop Crimes Against Humanity" – on Saturday, November 4 at the Palace in Los Angeles to raise money for ANCA.