ANCA Announces 2008 Congressional Endorsements

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
[email protected]

PRESS RELEASE
October 23, 2008
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ANCA ANNOUNCES 2008 CONGRESSIONAL ENDORSEMENTS

— Throws Community’s Electoral Support Behind 15 U.S. Senate and
211 House Pro-Armenian American Candidates

— Expanded 2008 ANCA Congressional Report Cards Track Pro-Armenian
Initiatives, Darfur Advocacy, and Turkish/Azerbaijani Lobby Efforts

WASHINGTON, DC – With just two weeks to go before potentially
pivotal Congressional races, the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) today released its 2008 endorsements, throwing the
political and electoral strength of the Armenian American community
behind supportive House and Senate candidates in forty U.S. States.

"We are pleased to offer our Congressional endorsements as a
resource to help Armenian American voters make informed decisions
at the ballot box on November 4th," said ANCA Executive Director
Aram Hamparian. "With a crucial presidential election and so many
Congressional races being closely contested, we encourage all
Armenian Americans to go to the polls and support each of our
friends."

The ANCA endorsements are based primarily on the ANCA Congressional
Report Card, a detailed review of each incumbent’s record across a
broad range of Armenian American issues. These Report Cards,
prepared in consultation with local ANCA chapters across the
country, cover issues ranging from securing a just resolution of
the Armenian Genocide and the strengthening U.S.-Armenia relations
to defending Nagorno Karabagh’s independence and increasing U.S.
aid and trade levels.

Among the grading criteria were membership in the Armenian Caucus
and willingness to advance pro-Armenian American legislative
initiatives, including the Armenian Genocide resolutions, measures
against the Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades, and legislative
efforts to help the genocide that is taking place today in Darfur.
Also considered were support for Congressional letters and
participation in events advocating the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide, calling for increased aid to Armenia and Nagorno
Karabagh, and supporting the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh’s right
to self-determination. On the Senate side, special attention was
devoted to efforts to exercise oversight of U.S. Ambassadorial
nominees to Armenia and Turkey.

The 2008 ANCA Report Cards have been expanded to include:

* Congressional notes highlighting key initiatives taken by
individual House and Senate Members – from Congressional speeches
to special scrutiny of issues of concern to the Armenian American
community.

* A detailed accounting of Turkish and Azerbaijani Government lobby
efforts targeting Senate and House members during the 110th
Congress, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice Foreign
Agent Registration division ().

* Direct access to DarfurScores.org, designed by the Genocide
Intervention Network, which grades Senate and House Members on
their support for Darfur-related initiatives geared to help end the
cycle of genocide.

The ANCA Congressional Report Cards are posted on the ANCA website
at: portcards.php

A complete list of ANCA Congressional endorsements is provided
below.

#####

2008 ANCA CONGRESSIONAL ENDORSEMENTS

Alabama

District #7: Artur Davis (D)

American Samoa

District #AL: Eni Faleomavaega (D)

Arizona

District #4: Ed Pastor (D)
District #7: Raul Grijalva (D)
District #8: Gabrielle Giffords (D)

California

District #1: Mike Thompson (D)
District #3: Dan Lungren (R)
District #5: Doris Matsui (D)
District #6: Lynn Woolsey (D)
District #7: George Miller (D)
District #8: Nancy Pelosi (D)
District #9: Barbara Lee (D)
District #10: Ellen Tauscher (D)
District #11: Jerry McNerney (D)
District #12: Jackie Speier (D)
District #13: Pete Stark (D)
District #14: Anna Eshoo (D)
District #15: Michael Honda (D)
District #16: Zoe Lofgren (D)
District #17: Sam Farr (D)
District #18: Dennis Cardoza (D)
District #19: George Radanovich (R)
District #20: Jim Costa (D)
District #21: Devin Nunes (R)
District #22: Kevin McCarthy (R)
District #23: Lois Capps (D)
District #24: Elton Gallegly (R)
District #25: Buck McKeon (R)
District #26: David Dreier (R)
District #27: Brad Sherman (D)
District #28: Howard Berman (D)
District #29: Adam Schiff (D)
District #30: Henry Waxman (D)
District #31: Xavier Becerra (D)
District #32: Hilda Solis (D)
District #33: Diane Watson (D)
District #34: Lucille Roybal-Allard (D)
District #35: Maxine Waters (D)
District #37: Laura Richardson (D)
District #38: Grace Napolitano (D)
District #39: Linda Sanchez (D)
District #40: Edward Royce (R)
District #41: Jerry Lewis (R)
District #42: Gary Miller (R)
District #43: Joe Baca (D)
District #44: Ken Calvert (R)
District #45: Mary Bono Mack (R)
District #46: Dana Rohrabacher (R)
District #47: Loretta Sanchez (D)
District #48: John Campbell (R)
District #49: Darrell Issa (R)
District #50: Brian Bilbray (R)
District #51: Bob Filner (D)
District #53: Susan Davis (D)

Colorado

Senate: Mark Udall (D) – OPEN SEAT

District #1: Diana DeGette (D)
District #3: John Salazar (D)
District #4: Marilyn Musgrave (R)
District #7: Edwin Perlmutter (D)

Connecticut

District #1: John Larson (D)
District #2: Joe Courtney (D)
District #3: Rosa DeLauro (D)
District #5: Chris Murphy (D)

Delaware

Senate: Joe Biden (D)

District of Columbia

District #AL: Eleanor Holmes Norton (D)

Florida

District #4: Ander Crenshaw (R)
District #9: Gus Bilirakis (R)
District #17: Kendrick Meek (D)
District #19: Benjamin Graber (I) — CHALLENGER
District #21: Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R)
District #22: Ron Klein (D)
District #25: Mario Diaz-Balart (R)

Georgia

District #1: Jack Kingston (R)
District #5: John Lewis (D)
District #8: James Marshall (D)
District #12: John Barrow (D)

Guam

District #AL: Madeleine Bordallo (D)

Hawaii

District #1: Neil Abercrombie (D)
District #2: Mazie Hirono (D)

Illinois

Senate: Richard Durbin (D)

District #1: Bobby Rush (D)
District #2: Jesse Jackson (D)
District #3: Daniel Lipinski (D)
District #6: Peter Roskam (R)
District #7: Danny Davis (D)
District #8: Steve Greenberg (R) – CHALLENGER
District #9: Janice Schakowsky (D)
District #10: Mark Kirk (R)
District #11: Debbie Halverson (D) – OPEN SEAT
District #12: Jerry Costello (D)
District #13: Scott Harper (D) – CHALLENGER
District #14: Bill Foster (D)
District #16: Donald Manzullo (R)
District #17: Phillip Hare (D)

Indiana

District #1: Peter Visclosky (D)
District #3: Mark Souder (R)

Iowa

District #1: Bruce Braley (D)

Kentucky

Senate: Mitch McConnell (R)

District #3: John Yarmuth (D)

Louisiana

District #3: Charlie Melancon (D)

Maine

Senate: Susan Collins (R)

District #1: Chellie Pingree (D) – OPEN SEAT
District #2: Michael Michaud (D)

Maryland

District #3: John Sarbanes (D)
District #5: Steny Hoyer (D)
District #8: Christopher Van Hollen (D)

Massachusetts

Senate: John Kerry (D)

District #1: John Olver (D)
District #2: Richard Neal (D)
District #3: James McGovern (D)
District #4: Barney Frank (D)
District #5: Niki Tsongas (D)
District #6: John Tierney (D)
District #7: Edward Markey (D)
District #8: Michael Capuano (D)
District #9: Stephen Lynch (D)
District #10: William Delahunt (D)

Michigan

Senate: Carl Levin (D)

District #4: Dave Camp (R)
District #5: Dale Kildee (D)
District #7: Tim Walberg (R)
District #8: Mike Rogers (R)
District #9: Joe Knollenberg (R)
District #10: Candice Miller (R)
District #11: Thaddeus McCotter (R)
District #12: Sander Levin (D)
District #14: John Conyers (D)

Minnesota

Senate: Norm Coleman (R)

District #1: Timothy Walz (D)
District #4: Betty McCollum (D)
District #5: Keith Maurice Ellison (D)
District #6: Michele Marie Bachmann (R)
District #7: Collin Peterson (D)

Mississippi

District #2: Bennie Thompson (D)

Missouri

District #1: William Clay (D)
District #5: Emanuel Cleaver (D)

Nevada

District #1: Shelley Berkley (D)
District #3: Jon Porter (R)

New Hampshire

Senate: John Sununu (R)

District #1: Jeb Bradley (R) – CHALLENGER
District #2: Paul Hodes (D)

New Jersey

Senate: Frank Lautenberg (D)

District #1: Robert Andrews (D)
District #2: Frank LoBiondo (R)
District #4: Christopher Smith (R)
District #5: Scott Garrett (R)
District #6: Frank Pallone (D)
District #9: Steven Rothman (D)
District #10: Donald Payne (D)
District #11: Rodney Frelinghuysen (R)
District #12: Rush Holt (D)
District #13: Albio Sires (D)

New Mexico

Senate: Tom Udall (D) – OPEN SEAT

New York

District #1: Tim Bishop (D)
District #2: Steve Israel (D)
District #3: Peter King (R)
District #4: Carolyn McCarthy (D)
District #5: Gary Ackerman (D)
District #7: Joseph Crowley (D)
District #8: Jerrold Nadler (D)
District #9: Anthony Weiner (D)
District #11: Yvette Clarke (D)
District #12: Nydia Velazquez (D)
District #14: Carolyn Maloney (D)
District #15: Charles Rangel (D)
District #16: Jose Serrano (D)
District #17: Eliot Engel (D)
District #18: Nita Lowey (D)
District #19: John Hall (D)
District #20: Kirsten Gillibrand (D)
District #22: Maurice Hinchey (D)
District #23: John McHugh (R)
District #24: Michael Arcuri (D)

North Carolina

Senate: Elizabeth Dole (R)

District #1: G.K. Butterfield (D)
District #12: Melvin Watt (D)

Ohio

District #1: Steve Chabot (R)
District #2: David Krikorian (I) — CHALLENGER
District #10: Dennis Kucinich (D)
District #13: Betty Sue Sutton (D)
District #14: Steven LaTourette (R)
District #17: Tim Ryan (D)
District #18: Zachary Space (D)

Oregon

Senate: Jeff Merkley (D) – CHALLENGER

District #1: David Wu (D)
District #3: Earl Blumenauer (D)
District #4: Peter DeFazio (D)

Pennsylvania

District #1: Robert Brady (D)
District #2: Chaka Fattah (D)
District #6: Jim Gerlach (R)
District #13: Allyson Schwartz (D)
District #14: Mike Doyle (D)
District #15: Charles Dent (R)
District #16: Joseph Pitts (R)

Rhode Island

Senate: Jack Reed (D)

District #1: Patrick Kennedy (D)
District #2: James Langevin (D)

South Carolina

District #2: Joe Wilson (R)

South Dakota

Senate: Tim Johnson (D)

District #AL: Stephanie Herseth (D)

Tennessee

District #3: Zach Wamp (R)

Texas

District #9: Al Green (D)
District #10: Michael McCaul (R)
District #17: Chet Edwards (D)
District #18: Sheila Jackson Lee (D)
District #20: Charlie Gonzalez (D)
District #23: Ciro Rodriguez (D)
District #24: Kenny Marchant (R)
District #25: Lloyd Doggett (D)
District #29: Gene Green (D)

Utah

District #2: Jim Matheson (D)

Virgin Islands

District #AL: Donna Christian-Christensen (D)

Virginia

District #3: Robert Scott (D)
District #7: Eric Cantor (R)
District #8: James Moran (D)
District #10: Frank Wolf (R)
District #11: Gerald Connolly (D) – OPEN SEAT

Washington

District #3: Brian Baird (D)
District #5: Cathy McMorris (R)
District #7: Jim McDermott (D)
District #8: Dave Reichert (R)

Wisconsin

District #1: Paul Ryan (R)
District #2: Tammy Baldwin (D)
District #3: Ron Kind (D)
District #5: F. James Sensenbrenner (R)
District #8: Steven Leslie Kagen (D)

http://www.anca.org/legislative_center/election_re
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