ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:

Contact: Danielle Saroyan

Telephone: (202) 393-3434

Web: www.aaainc.org

ILLINOIS CONGRESSMAN RAJA
KRISHNAMOORTHI JOINS GROWING ARMENIAN CAUCUS

WASHINGTON,
D.C. – The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) announced that Freshman
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) joined the Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues, supporting United States-Armenia relations. Congressman
Krishnamoorthi of Illinois' 8th District currently serves on the House
Committee on Education and the Workforce and the House Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform.

As part of the Terjenian-Thomas Assembly Internship
Program, Hugh Rabjohns, who attends Texas Christian University and grew up in
Wilmette, Illinois, interned in Congressman Krishnamoorthi's office this summer
in Washington, D.C.

"It is an honor to have Congressman
Krishnamoorthi join the Armenian Caucus. His broad view of the world and
respect for history uniquely equips him to play a leading role,"
Illinois-based Assembly Board Member Oscar Tatosian said. "His
entrepreneurial spirit is the kind of friend Armenia needs," he added.

Rep. Krishnamoorthi attended the Armenian Genocide
Commemoration this past April on Capitol Hill and signed a bipartisan letter to
President Donald Trump urging him to reaffirm the Armenian Genocide. The
Congressman also issued the following statement commemorating the Genocide:
"Today, on the 102nd anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian
Genocide, we recognize the murder of 1.5 million Armenian men women, and
children in the years that followed under the direction of the Ottoman Empire.
Despite the truth of this history and the magnitude of these crimes, our
government remains one of only three in the world not to recognize the genocide
committed against the Armenian people. To deny the Armenian Genocide is to deny
the humanity of its victims and the demands of our own."

In June, Rep. Krishnamoorthi wrote an op-ed in The
Hill titled "Did Turkey's payments to Michael Flynn delay our military
operations against ISIS?" where he explained: "Press and public
attention have been focused largely on the Trump administration's relationship
with Russia, and there is much to be learned. Questions regarding Turkey,
however, reveal most clearly how personal considerations may have overridden
our national interests."

Earlier this year, the Assembly highlighted Turkey's
attempts to gain surreptitious influence over U.S. officials and media to the
detriment of U.S. national security, and urged the Senate and House
Intelligence Committees to investigate the matter.

The Assembly's letter to the Senate Intelligence
Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC), Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA), House
Intelligence Chairman David Nunes (R-CA), and Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA)
read in part: "We are writing to urge your thorough investigation of
President Erdogan's Turkey in an expanded review of foreign governments and
their activities that compromise America's democratic institutions to allow
massive human rights violations and work against the United States in ways that
are totally out of legal or diplomatic bounds."

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of
America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting
public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a
non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

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2017-059

Photo Caption 1: Rep.
Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) with Armenian Assembly intern Hugh Rabjohns

Photo Caption 2: House
Foreign Affairs Chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Armenian Assembly Utah State
Chair Narine Sarkissian, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) at the 102^nd
Armenian Genocide Commemoration on Capitol Hill

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