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LOS ANGELES, CA – On June 29, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) Western Region will host a community briefing in the evening with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Representative Ed Royce (R-CA). The Assembly will be holding the briefing with Chairman Royce at St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church in Costa Mesa, California at 7:30 PM. This event is open to the public and free of charge. Guests are encouraged to RSVP by June 27 via an Eventbrite link at: aaabriefing.eventbrite.com.
“The Armenian Assembly is grateful to Chairman Royce for his long-standing leadership in the House in defense of Armenia and Artsakh, and for his readiness to address fundamental issues of concern to the Armenian American community,” stated Assembly Western Region Director Mihran Toumajan. “This forum will be the first of many Assembly events in California to keep our members and friends updated on the burgeoning U.S.-Armenia relationship, as well as American foreign policy priorities in the south Caucasus region.”
Chairman Royce oversees policy on Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the South Caucasus region. During the community briefing, he will be discussing issues of priority concern to the Armenian American community, including Azerbaijan’s recent attacks against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, United States foreign assistance towards Syrian-Armenian refugees living in Armenia, the Fiscal Year 2017 aid package, and anti-Armenian sentiment and actions taking place in Turkey today.
As former Co-Chair (2011-2012) and member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, Chairman Royce has been a consistent supporter of Armenian American concerns. Most recently, he issued a statement in support of the German Bundestag’s Armenian Genocide Resolution, where he stated: “Germany’s vote to recognize the Armenian Genocide is a major event. Acknowledging this dark moment in history is a victory for human rights. The annihilation of millions of Armenians was genocide. Period. And the 1.5 million innocent men, women, and children whose lives were taken deserve recognition.”
Chairman Royce has also been a vocal supporter of peace in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In October 2015, Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) spearheaded a letter signed by 85 Members of Congress addressed to Ambassador James Warlick, U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. The letter urged Ambassador Warlick to “publicly condemn specific acts of aggression along the line of contact. In the letter, Royce and Engel called for (1) an agreement from all sides not to deploy snipers along the line of contact; (2) the placement of OSCE-monitored, advanced gunfire-locator systems and sound-ranging equipment to determine the source of attacks along the line of contact; and (3) the deployment of additional OSCE observers along the line of contact to better monitor cease-fire violations.
Guests attending the Assembly’s community briefing will also have an opportunity to pose questions to Chairman Royce on a range of issues related to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.