WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With tensions rising between the United States and Turkey over a resolution that labels the World War I-era massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces "genocide," many are asking why the House is debating the resolution now. Rep. Tom Lantos says passage of the genocide resolution would help restore America's moral authority. The House Foreign Affairs committee voted 27-21 Wednesday to approve the nonbinding resolution, which declares that the deportation of nearly 2 million Armenians from the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923 -- resulting in the deaths of 1.5 million -- was "systematic" and "deliberate," amounting to "genocide."
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Resolution labels 1915-1923 massacre of Armenians in Turkey "genocide"
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House Democrats say resolution will help restore America's moral authority
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Administration says resolution would hurt relations with Turkey, a key ally
And all of us in the Democratic leadership have supported... reiterating the @placeholder' acknowledgement of a genocide."