By Taniel Koushakjian May 30, 2014 HOUSE: The House was in session on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week but will be out all next week in observance of Memorial Day. The House will return on Monday, June 9. The House Appropriations Committee has not yet scheduled a date to approve the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015, which covers U.S. economic, humanitarian and military assistance to Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh, an

THE WHITE HOUSE: This week, both the House and Senate returned to Washington and assembled on Tuesday for a bicameral session to receive the President of the United States for the annual State of the Union speech. Addressing Congress and the American people, President Obama proclaimed, “America doesn’t stand still – and neither will I,” as he looks to use his arsenal of executive actions to circumvent Congress in the coming years. The question on the minds of Armenian-America

Both the House and Senate have adjourned for the Thanksgiving week break. The House returns on December 1 and the Senate returns on December 9. The House is expected to wrap up the year by December 13, leaving only 8 days on the legislative calendar. As the Assembly previously reported, talk of major legislative packages (immigration reform and tax reform) have been pushed into next year or beyond. In addition, the 2014 election campaign is officially underway, all but furthe

#ArmenianCaucus #Congress #ArmenianAssemblyofAmerica #Artsakh #DC #NagornoKarabakh #Armenian #CapitolHill

Last time we brought you the Assembly Agenda the U.S. government was 14 days into a partial government shutdown and on the verge of breaking the U.S. debt ceiling, potentially causing the U.S. to default on its credit. As anticipated, at the eleventh hour (literally minutes before midnight) Congress ultimately did not risk the full faith and credit of the United States and finally passed a Continuing Resolution, or CR, funding the government through January 15, and raising th

Last time we brought you the Assembly Agenda the U.S. government was on the verge of a shutdown with no solution to keep the government funded in sight between the White House, Senate Democrats and House Republicans. Today is day 14 of the shutdown and, as of this morning, we are no better off now than two weeks ago. The latest talk on Capitol Hill is that House leaders have agreed to drop certain ObamaCare provisions in a proposal that would reopen the government though Janu

Intern Class of 2013 Takes to Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) is proud to inform members, supporters and friends that, with the summer 2013 class, over 1,000 college students have completed the Assembly’s Terjenian-Thomas Summer Internship Program over the past 36 years. The 2013 intern class included Ani Acopian of Easton, Pennsylvania; Ariana Andonian of Rancho Santa Fe, California; Bobby Avakian of Bedford, Massachusetts; Sar

Armenian Assembly of America Board Members, staff and friends attend the J Street Annual Gala in Washington, D.C. #Congress #ArmenianAssemblyofAmerica #Politics #Washingtondc #jstreet #DC #Jewish #Armenian

This Week in Washington, D.C. As we reported last week, the full attention of Congress this week has been on the looming government shutdown set to occur next Tuesday, October 1. Earlier this week the House passed a stop-gap spending bill that would keep the government open and operating for 45 days and that would defund the President’s healthcare law for FY14. Today, the Senate passed the House version, stripping the defunding language, thus setting up a showdown between the

WATCH: Azerbaijan Ambassador Attempts to Dispute Armenian Assembly of America’s Right to Submit Testimony to Congress. Learn more at www.armenian-assembly.org. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/) #Karabakh #ArmenianAssembly #GurgenMargaryan #Azerbaijan #Congress #RamilSafarov #ArmenianAssemblyofAmerica #Julfa #Politics #Artsakh #DC #NagornoKarabakh #Nakhichevan #freedomofpress #Armenian #Armenia

The Armenian Assembly of America is currently seeking unpaid interns for our Government Affairs, Communications and Research departments in our Washington, D.C. office for the 2013 fall semester. Start/stop dates are flexible (September-December). The ideal Government Affairs internship candidate will be studying/have experience working in the U.S. Congress and government, political science and/or public policy. The ideal Communications internship candidate will be studying/h

(E. Clay Shaw, Jr in 1983 – Sun-Sentinel) Today, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) regrets to inform you of the passing of former Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R-FL). A former mayor of Ft. Lauderdale, Shaw was first elected to Congress in 1980, where would serve for 26 years before loosing re-election in 2006. “In Congress, Shaw was chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, where he authored the 1996 Welfare Reform Act,” read Th

Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Michael Grimm (R-NY) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) Congratulate Nagorno-Karabakh President Bako Sahakyan on his country’s 22nd Anniversary of Independence. #Karabakh #Azerbaijan #Congress #Independence #democracy #Artsakh #FrankPallone #NagornoKarabakh #Freedom #Armenian #MichaelGrimm #Armenia

By AAA Intern Robert Avakian During the week of June 24th, the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) held two hearings that highlighted situations requiring the attention of the Armenian-American community – the war in Syria and the protests in Turkey. HFAC Chairman Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) oversaw the hearing, entitled “Religious Minorities in Syria: Caught in the Middle.” Chairman Smith and other sitting members hammered the State Department official witness on the inactivi