Congressman Mark Kirk announced co-chair of Congressional Caucus on
Armenian issues

WASHING TON, DECEMBER 19, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian
Assembly of America welcomed the election of Mark Kirk (R-IL) as a new
co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues. In this post
M. Kirk will replace the co-chair Joe Knollenberg who will leave
Congress in January 2009.

In the words of M. Kirk, after working with the Armenian American
community on promotion of U.S.-Armenia issues for 20 years, it was a
great honor and inspiration to him to serve together with Congressman
Pallone as a co-chair of the Caucus on Armenian Issues. He said that
the Caucus on Armenian Issues is famous for its work on development of
U.S.-Armenia relations and recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and he
anticipates to work with Congressman Pallone and all the members of the
Caucus to promote U.S.-Armenia relations in the 111th Congress.

M. Kirk was first elected to Congress in 2000, replacing John Porter
(R-IL) who was the first co-chair of the Caucus from the Republican
Party.

M. Kirk serves in the U.S. House of Representatives’s Appropriations
Committee and is included in the Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial
Services and the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related
Programs, under whose jurisdiction is the issue of financing of Armenia.

Congressman Kirk has sponsored many resolutions on the Armenian
Genocide. Besides, he assisted with adoption of resolutions on the use
of a normal constant trade regime between the U.S. and Armenia and
co-sponsored resolution 3361 of the House of Representatives, which
banned the allocation of taxpayers’ money for financing construction of
a railway bypassing Armenia.