Washington—On»Tues., Nov. 18, Members of Congress including Reps. Adam Schiff and David Valadao and Armenian-American groups will host a press conference at the National Press Club to mark the opening of the White House display of the Armenian Orphan Rug–also known as the Ghazir Rug–a work of art that has been the subject of political controversy since it was woven by orphan survivors of the Armenian Genocide and gifted to U.S. President Calvin Coolidge in 1925 in appreciation for U.S. humanitarian assistance following Turkey’s mass murder of over 1.5 million Armenians and other Christians during World War I.

<div id="attachment_27493" style="width: 310px; border: 1px solid #dddddd; background-color: #f3f3f3; padding-top: 4px; margin: 10px; text-align:center; float: left;" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://armenianweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Armenian_Orphan_Rug.jpg" rel="prettyPhoto">