NEW YORK, NY — Congressman Steve Israel recommitted his support to issues of importance to Armenian-Americans at a district meeting in Hauppauqe, NY organized by the Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region. Constituents attending the meeting included ANCA activists Narek Boudakian, Neshan Koulian, and Lorig Hamparian and were joined by ANCA Eastern Region Executive Director, Garo Manjikian

“I appreciated the opportunity to meet with Armenian-American Long Islanders,” Rep. Israel said. “We talked about a number of important issues including aid to Armenia, Azerbaijan’s June 18th attack on Mardarkert, and the need to recognize the Armenian genocide. These are important and complex issues and I valued the input from this meeting.”

“Congressman Israel is a staunch supporter of Armenian issues,” said Manjikian. “He has cosponsored the Armenian Genocide Resolution the past four congressional sessions and plays a large role in increasing US foreign aid to both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.”

The meeting gave an opportunity for the Congressman to personally meet Armenian-Americans in his district. The constituents shared their personal stories of how they came to live in the district and how their family survived the Genocide. “I am extremely proud to have Congressman Israel represent me in the United States Congress,” said Narek Boudakian. “It was a pleasure to meet him and thank him for all the work he has done for us.”

Congressman Israel is one of 145 cosponsors of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res. 252, which passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee with a vote of 23-22 on March 4th 2010. He also sits on Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs which voted to allocate $44 million to Armenia and $10 million to Nagarno Karabakh.

Photo (L to R): Narek Boudakian, Lorig Hamparian, Rep Israel, Neshan Koulian, Garo Manjikian