CONGRESSMAN RON KLEIN REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

armradio.am
30.01.2008 10:41

Activists from the Armenian National Committee of South Florida (ANC
of S. FL) and ANCA Eastern Region Executive Director, Karine Birazian
met with Congressman Ron Klein (D-FL-22) and District Director Felicia
Goldstein in West Palm Beach, Florida. The purpose of the meeting was
to thank him for his instrumental vote in the House Foreign Affairs
Committee this past October on the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

"We are very grateful to Congressman Klein for his principled stand
on genocide recognition. We look forward to continuing to build a
relationship with him and his staff," commented local constituent
and ANC activist Hasmig Eskandarian.

During the thirty-minute meeting, Eskandarian, ANC of S. Florida
Chairman Albert Mazmanian, former Florida activist Nora Keomurjian,
and Birazian thanked Congressman Klein for his support of H. Res. 106
which he insisted he stands firm on. The meeting also provided an
opportunity to give further insight on other Armenian related issues
that the ANCA pursues, including aid to Armenia, military parity,
and self -determination for Nagorno Karabagh.

During the House Foreign Affairs Committee mark-up on the
Armenian Genocide Resolution on October 10th, Klein was one of 27
Representatives who voted in favor of the resolution. In his powerful
remarks to the Committee Klein commented:

"… And it wasn’t so much of just teaching the Holocaust, but teaching
of what happens when man’s inhumanity is allowed to fester over a
period of time, and the result was the Holocaust and other genocides
that have occurred before and after. And I think the reason that I
believe it is important that this historical event is acknowledged
and understood is what the survivors of the Holocaust use as their
two-word phrase: Never again. Never again…"

Congressman Klein, first term Democrat, has been proudly been serving
the Boca Raton community since 1992, first in the Florida House of
Representatives, and later the State Senate. One of his proudest
achievements was the passage of the Holocaust Education Act, which
mandated the teaching about the lessons of the Holocaust in all
of Florida’s public schools. Currently Klein serves on the House
Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Committee on Financial
Services. Congressman Klein has been active in promoting Darfur
legislation on Divestment this Congress and currently has an "A"
on the Darfur Score Cards a project organized by the Genocide
Intervention Network.