Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
ancawr@anca.org
PRESS RELEASE
Friday, June 15, 2007
Contact: Haig Hovsepian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
Hawaii ANC Activists Praise Congresswoman Hirono
Honolulu, HI – Armenian Americans from the Aloha State welcomed this week
Congresswoman Maize Hirono’s cosponsorship of human rights legislation
concerning the Armenian Genocide (H.Res.106). Congresswoman Hirono, who
represents Hawaii’s second Congressional District, is the first immigrant
woman of Asian ancestry to be elected to and to serve in the United States
House of Representatives.
"Our community here in Hawaii and especially in the Congresswoman’s District
appreciates her support for the Armenian Genocide resolution," commented
George Casen. He noted that the Armenian Community in Hawaii is composed of
Armenians who have been in the United States for a long time, primarily
second and third generation Armenian-Americans, highly assimilated within
the local community. "We appreciate her leadership on this issue which is
of utmost concern to us. Whether it is Armenian-Americans living on the Big
Island, Maui, Kauai or in other parts of her Congressional District, we
thank the Congresswoman for her support of Congressman Schiff’s Genocide
Resolution," Casen added.
Casen along with Michael Petrosian and ANC activists working with the
ANCA-WR and national offices contacted her local and Washington, D.C. staff
regarding the resolution. This past April, Casen met with Hirono to discuss
the resolution and the Armenian Genocide.
Congresswoman Hirono won her seat in November of 2006 to fill the vacancy
left by former Congressman Ed Case. She won the seat with 61% of the vote
against Republican Bob Hogue.
Prior to being elected to Congress, Hirono served two 4-years terms as the
State of Hawaii’s ninth elected Lieutenant Governor. She was also the
Hawaii Democratic Party’s candidate for Governor in 2002, one of a handful
of women in the United States to become their party’s nominee for Governor.
She was born in Fukushima, Japan on Nov. 3, 1947 and became a naturalized
U.S. citizen in 1959, the year Hawaii became a state. Educated in public
schools in Hawaii, Congresswoman Hirono graduated with honors from Kaimuki
High School and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She
earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington,
D.C. Congresswoman Hirono is married to attorney Leighton K. Oshima.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and most
influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working in
coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout
the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA
actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad
range of issues.