Armenian Issues
As a member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, I work with my colleagues and the Armenian community to strengthen relations between the United States and Armenia. Additionally, I have joined my colleagues from the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues to fight cuts in assistance to Armenia. U.S. assistance has helped Armenia transition from communism to a free market, build democratic institutions and civil society, and provide for the needs of the Armenian people.
111th Congress
Cosponsored legislation:
H.Res. 252 , which calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide.
Letters:
April 3, 2009: Joined a letter to the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee in support of funding for Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
110th Congress
Cosponsored legislation:
H.Res. 106, which calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide.
H.Res. 102, condemning the assassination of human rights advocate and outspoken defender of freedom of the press, Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007.
H.R. 6079 , the “End the Turkish Blockade of Armenia Act,” which calls on the President and Secretary of State to take steps to pressure Turkey to end the blockade and restore economic, political, and cultural links with Armenia. In addition, the bill requires the Secretary of State to submit a report to Congress outlining the efforts made by the United States to end Turkey’s blockade of Armenia.
Letters:
January 19, 2007: Joined a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan urging him to personally oversee the investigation of Hrant Dink’s murder and work to repeal the law under which Mr. Dink was prosecuted.
January 28, 2008: Joined a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to hold the government of Azerbaijan accountable for comments regarding Nagorno-Karabakh.
March 18, 2008: Joined a letter to the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee requesting no military aid to Azerbaijan; $5 million in military aid for Armenia; $70 million in economic assistance for Armenia; $10 million for Nagorno-Karabakh; continuation of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act; and the restoration of diplomatic relations with Nagorno-Karabakh.
September 12, 2008: Joined a letter to President Bush expressingsupport for financial assistance for the Javakh region of Georgia andArmenia.
Floor Speeches:
April 23, 2007: Commemorating the 92nd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
April 24, 2008: Commemorating the 93rd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
109th Congress
Cosponsored legislation:
H. Res. 316, which calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide.
H.R. 3103, the "End the Turkish Blockade of Armenia Act," which expresses the sense of Congress that the President and Secretary of State should call upon Turkey to comply with the long-standing U.S. position that Turkey should lift its ongoing blockade with Armenia. The legislation directs the Secretary to report on U.S. plans and steps taken to end such blockade.
H.R. 3361, the “South Caucasus Integration and Open Railroads Act of 2005,” which would prohibit U.S. assistance to develop or promote any rail connections or railway-related connections that traverse or connect Baku, Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, Georgia; and Kars, Turkey, and that specifically exclude cities in Armenia
Letters:
March 7, 2005: Joined a letter to President Bush asking him to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
April 8, 2005: Joined a letter to the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee requesting $75 million in Economic Support Funds for Armenia; parity in Foreign Military Financing for Armenia and Azerbaijan; $5 million for Nagorno-Karabakh; and opposing any changes to Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act.
June 15, 2005: Joined a letter to Vice-President Cheney to acknowledge him as being the first high-level official in the Bush administration to recognize the Armenian Genocide and ask him for clarification of the Bush administration's position on this issue.
August 3, 2005: Joined a letter to President Bush supporting the continuation and expansion of humanitarian assistance to the people of Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Artsakh, to continue its progress toward freedom, peace, and prosperity.
February 24, 2006: Joined two letters expressing opposition to the broadcasting of a panel that included two scholars who deny the Armenian Genocide
March 13, 2006: Joined a letter in support of increased funding for Armenia.
April 12, 2006: Joined a letter to President Bush asking him to affirm the Armenian Genocide.
May 9,2006: Joined a letter to Secretary of State Rice expressing concerns about the status of the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia.
June 16, 2006: Sponsored and circulated a letter joined by twenty-two other members of the House of Representatives urging the European Union to press Turkey to meet its EU accession criteria.
June 27, 2006: Joined a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian urging him to help ensure justice for the family of Odet Tsaturyan.
November 29, 2006: Joined a letter expressing strong support for language pertaining to Armenia included in both the House and Senate bills to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.
Floor Speeches:
February 17, 2005: Commemorating the 17th Anniversary of the Nagorno Karabakh Freedom Movement
April 20, 2005: Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
March 1, 2006: Commemorating the 18th Anniversary of the Nagorno Karabakh Freedom Movement
April 26, 2006: Commemorating the 91st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
108th Congress
Cosponsored legislation:
H. Res. 193, which would put the House of Representatives on record as recognizing the Armenian Genocide and commemorating the victims of this and other genocides, including the Holocaust and the recent genocides in central Africa. This resolution also would mark the 15th anniversary of the passage of the Proxmire Act, which implemented America’s commitment to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
H.R. 528, which would authorize the President to extend nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations) to the products of Armenia.
H.R. 3323, the “Armenian Victims Insurance Fairness Act,” which would authorize states to: (1) require an insurance company conducting business in the State to disclose and make publicly available details regarding certain covered policies issued by that company or by any related company; and (2) provide penalties and sanctions for noncompliance; define a "covered policy" as a life, property, liability, health annuity, dowry, educational, or casualty insurance policy issued to a policyholder domiciled in the area of Europe or Asia that was occupied or controlled by the Ottoman Empire and that was in effect at any time between 1875 and 1923; and, declare that Congress explicitly disapproves any Executive branch policy or agreement that preempts State efforts to collect insurance information to resolve outstanding claims concerning such policies.
Letters:
January 22, 2004: Joined a letter to President Bush requesting that he urge the government of Turkey to end its blockade of Armenia.
July 23, 2004: Joined a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert asking that the Schiff Amendment regarding the Armenian Genocide remain in the FY05 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill.
September 23, 2004: Joined a letter to President Bush urging him to condemn Azerbaijani rhetoric against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
Floor Speeches:
May 10, 2004: In honor of the survivors and victims of the Pontian Genocide
April 27, 2004: Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
September 24, 2003: 12th Anniversary of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic’s Independence
107th Congress
Cosponsored legislation:
H. Con. Res. 139, which welcomed His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, on his visit to the United States and commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the acceptance of Christianity in Armenia.
H. Con. Res. 162, which expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should not subsidize any oil or gas pipeline in the South Caucasus the commercial viability of which is in doubt or which hinders the U.S. goal of integrating Armenia into a secure and prosperous regional economic framework; (2) all proposals for South Caucasus oil and gas pipeline routes should be carefully evaluated to ensure that all Caucasus nations are included in consideration of energy and trade routes; (3) any engineering and feasibility study, and any project implementation, that utilizes U.S. Government funds, regarding the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline or similar energy transportation projects, must include trans-Armenian routes; and (4) the Trade Development Agency should fund and support a feasibility study to determine the cost savings of a trans-Armenia Baku-Ceyhan pipeline.
Floor Speeches:
April 24, 2002: Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
April 24, 2001: Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
106th Congress
Cosponsored legislation:
H. Con. Res. 216, condemning the assassination of Armenian Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian and other officials of the Armenian Government and mourning this tragic loss of the duly elected leadership of Armenia.
H. Res. 155, calling upon the President to provide in a collection all United States records related to the Armenian genocide and the consequences of the failure to enforce the judgments of the Turkish courts against the responsible officials, and to deliver the collection to the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives, the library of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and to the Armenian Genocide Museum in Yerevan, Armenia.
H. Res. 398, the “United States Training on and Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Resolution,” which calls upon the President: (1) to provide for appropriate training and materials to all Foreign Service officers, officials of the Department of State, and any other executive branch employee involved in responding to issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide by familiarizing them with the U.S. record relating to the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the failure to enforce the judgments of the Turkish courts against the responsible officials; and (2) in his annual message commemorating the Armenian Genocide issued on or about April 24, to characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide and to recall the proud history of U.S. intervention in opposition to the Armenian Genocide.
Floor Speeches:
April 12, 2000: Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
April 21, 1999: Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
105th Congress
Cosponsored legislation:
H. Con. Res. 55, which honors the memory of the victims of the Armenian genocide and calls for the United States to encourage the Republic of Turkey to acknowledge and commemorate the atrocity committed against the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.
H. Con. Res. 148, which joins the Hellenic and the Armenian American communities in honoring the memory of the victims of Smyrna in 1922 and the millions of Orthodox Christians who perished in the genocidal campaign in Asia Minor from 1894 to 1923. It calls for: (1) the United States to encourage the Republic of Turkey to take all appropriate steps to acknowledge these crimes against humanity and commemorate the victims at Smyrna; and (2) the restoration and preservation of an accurate history of such events so that such atrocities may never be repeated (Sponsored by Representative Maloney).
H. Con. Res. 271, which welcomes His Holiness Karekin I, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, upon his visit to the United States, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Diocese of the Armenian Church in America, and acknowledging the substantial contributions of Armenian-Americans to society and culture in the United States.
H.R. 1361, the “Turkish Human Rights Act,” which prohibits economic support fund (ESF) assistance to the Government of Turkey unless the Secretary of State determines that there has been significant progress by such Government in: (1) permitting international human rights monitoring organizations to report on the human rights situation in Turkey; (2) ceasing to deny human rights to the Kurdish people; (3) taking action to demilitarize Cyprus and provide support for democracy there; (4) ceasing to blockade U.S. and international assistance to Armenia; and (5) ceasing its restrictions on religious freedom.
Floor Speeches:
April 22, 1998: Commemorating the Armenian Genocide
Legislation
Documents/Reports
06/16/06 - Letter to the President of the EU regarding Turkey's ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide
