The Hill reports that several prominent House Democrats will hold a press conference today calling upon leadership not to schedule a vote on the Armenian genocide resolution that threatens to undermine Turkey's support for U.S. efforts in Iraq.

Five House Democrats plan to hold a news conference Wednesday to urge their leadership not to bring the resolution to the floor, although the measure passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week with strong Democratic support.

Reps. Alcee Hastings of Florida, John Murtha of Pennsylvania, Robert Wexler of Florida and Steve Cohen and John Tanner, both of Tennessee, will participate in the news conference. They plan to urge House leadership to "reconsider its decision" to bring the Armenian genocide resolution to the floor.

Besides the Congressmen participating in this press conference, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) has quietly written Speaker Pelosi and asked her to defer consideration of the genocide resolution. Skelton's fear--likely shared by Murtha, at least--is that without Turkey's help, it will be harder to get out of Iraq:

But Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposing the resolution, and said the backlash threatened by Turkey could disrupt "America's ability to redeploy U.S. military forces from Iraq," a top Democratic priority.

If Pelosi is looking for rationale to make the politically 'safe' decision--not to risk being blamed for a meltdown in Iraq--this is all the pretext she needs. The signals from Skelton and Murtha are an indication that a vote on the resolution is no longer a sure thing.