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By Mariam Pashayan
Armenian Assembly of America Intern Coordinator
As part of our Capitol Ideas program, the Armenian Assembly of America’s Terjenian-Thomas Summer Interns had the opportunity to meet with Armenian American Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) to discuss her role in Congress. They discussed her activism on a wide range of domestic and international issues. Rep. Speier serves on the House Armed Services Committee, Oversight and Investigations subcommittee. She was appointed to serve as Vice Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Our interns could not be more in awe at all the hardships she had been through and amazed at how she has taken each experience to do better for our country. When one of our interns asked, “Who/what inspired you to become who you are today?”, Congresswoman Speier’s answer was that there were three important people who have inspired her, Congressman Leo Ryan, Dalai Lama and President John F. Kennedy. Jackie Speier was a pleasure to meet with, and inspired many of us to take the good from anything, and to learn something from all of our experiences.
