ANC-PAC TO HOST SEPTEMBER 29TH EVENT TO THANK US SENATOR BOB MENENDEZ

armradio.am
07.09.2007 10:24

Leaders of a grateful and energized Armenian American community will
gather in Santa Monica on September 29th to personally thank Senator
Bob Menendez for his courage in successfully standing up to the
White House’s attempt to send a confirmed Armenian Genocide denier,
Dick Hoagland, to represent the United States in Armenia.

"Senator Menendez earned his remarkable standing in our community’s
long struggle to end the denial of the Armenian Genocide by
single-handedly blocking Richard Hoagland’s nomination to be the
next U.S. Ambassador to Armenia," said Armenian National Committee –
Political Action Committee (ANC-PAC) spokesperson Ara Papazian. "In
the face of intense pressure from the Administration, State Department,
Turkey’s high-priced lobbyists, and many others, Senator Menendez stood
up for the truth, ultimately forcing the White House, in a rare move,
to back down and withdraw the nomination of this unapologetic genocide
denier," added Papazian.

The event, organized by the ANC-PAC, will be held in the home of
longtime ANC-PAC supporter Ashkhen Pilavjian from 5 PM to 7 PM on
the evening of September 29th.

The purpose of the gathering, beyond extending a traditionally
warm Armenian welcome and expressing the community leadership’s
appreciation, is to ensure that the Armenian American community
does its part to ensure that Senator Menendez has the resources to
win reelection to the Senate. Sources in Washington already report
that the Senator is set to face intense opposition from the Turkish
government’s allies over the Hoagland issue and others angered by
his rock-solid support for issues of importance to Armenian Americans
including U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Senator Menendez’s hold on the Hoagland nomination made national
news, earning headlines in Los Angeles Times and Washington Post –
and was, for months, the subject of daily news reports in both Armenia
and Turkey. His stand against the nomination came in the wake of the
State Department’s firing of Ambassador John Evans for acknowledging
and speaking truthfully about the Armenian Genocide.

Senator Menendez has a long track record of advancing issues of
special concern to Armenian Americans. He is a leading co-sponsor
of S.Res. 106, which calls on the President to properly commemorate
the Armenian Genocide, and has backed similar legislation dating back
to his years of service in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was
among the authors of S. 2461, the South Caucasus Integration and Open
Railroads Act, to prohibit U.S. assistance to develop any Caucasus
rail projects that go around Armenia, and led the effort to see this
language adopted as part of the Export-Import Bank Reauthorization
bill last year.

Like many in the Armenian American community, Senator Menendez grew
up the son of immigrants. He was raised in a tenement building in
Union City, New Jersey, and is the product of New Jersey’s public
schools and a graduate of the state’s universities. He has served as
a school board member, a mayor and a state legislator. Since 1992,
he has been fighting for New Jersey families in Washington, where
he rose to become the third-highest ranking Democrat in the House of
Representatives before taking office in the Senate in 2006. Senator
Menendez received his B.A. from St. Peter’s College in Jersey City
and his law degree from Rutgers University. He currently lives in
Hoboken and has two children, Alicia and Robert.