ANC-PAC endorses Congressman Costa of California
armradio.am
06.09.2008 11:52
The Armenian National Committee – Political Action Committee (ANC-PAC)
has endorsed Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA). Costa represents
California’s 20th Congressional District, which is nestled in
California’s San Joaquin Valley and includes all of Kings County, part
of Fresno and Kern Counties. The Congressman, who serves as a member of
the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has been a staunch supporter of
his Armenian American constituents since his election to the U.S. House
of Representatives in 2005.
"Our community in the 20th Congressional District is proud to be
represented in Washington, DC by Jim Costa," remarked ANC-PAC supporter
Hilda Santikian. "The Congressman is a man of his word and a true
friend, in every sense of the word. The fact that Congressman Costa
scored an A+ in the Armenian National Committee of America’s annual
Report Card says it all for thousands of Armenian American voters in
his district," she added.
As a member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, Costa has
led the charge to ensure that America be represented in Armenia by an
ambassador who does not deny the Armenian Genocide. In a May 8, 2008
letter to Ambassador designate Marie Yovanovitch, Costa shared that "it
is, by any reasonable standard, established history that between 1915
and 1923 the Ottoman Empire systematically killed an estimated 1.5
million Armenians and drove hundreds of thousands of others into exile
from their ancestral homeland." The Congressman has also been
aggressively in support of legislative efforts to end Turkey’s blockade
of Armenia and to encourage freedom for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Prior to his election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman
Costa enjoyed a nearly quarter century career as a member of the
California State Legislature. He is the grandson of Portuguese
immigrants and has had a lifelong long history of friendship with
Armenian Americans in California’s Central Valley. The Congressman has
a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from California State
University, Fresno.
In the current 110th Congress, Costa serves as a member of two
influential subcommittees of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; the
subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia and the subcommittee on
Europe. On these subcommittees and on the House floor, Costa has
energetically worked to counteract the anti-Armenian agenda being
advanced by the multimillion dollar lobbyists employed by Turkey and
Azerbaijan on Capitol Hill.