Bipartisan, Bicameral Coalition of U.S. legislators calls for  American leadership to secure justice Justice for Artsakh and  Armenian Genocide

ArmInfo. Twenty U.S. legislators - Democrats and Republicans, from the U.S. House and 

Senate - joined together Wednesday evening at a landmark gathering in 

the U.S. Capitol dedicated to justice for Artsakh (2023) and the 

Armenian Genocide (1915), reported the Armenian National Committee of 

America (ANCA).  

"The unified message Members of Congress delivered 

tonight to President Biden was loud and clear: Stop arming 

Azerbaijan. Hold Aliyev accountable. Start the safe return of 

Armenians to Artsakh," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. 

"We thank each of tonight's speakers - notably French National 

Assembly Deputy Astrid Panosyan- Bouvet - and extend our heartfelt 

appreciation to Maryland State Delegate Lorig Charkoudian who served 

as Mistress of Ceremonies and offered such very powerful remarks 

about both Artsakh and the Armenian Genocide." The event was 

co-hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and 

the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA), in cooperation with the 

Congressional Armenian Caucus.  

Among the legislators offering remarks were Senators Edward Markey (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), 

and Gary Peters (D-MI), Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank 

Pallone (D-NJ), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) and 

Representatives Gabe Amo (D-RI), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Jamaal Bowman 

(D-NY), Judy Chu (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Tom 

McClintock (R-CA), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Chris 

Smith (R-NJ), and Dina Titus (D- NV).  Representatives Young Kim 

(R-CA), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) also joined 

in marking the solemn occasion.  Congressional Armenian Staff 

Association (CASA) members Natalia Matossian and Peter Chalabian 

offered powerful remarks on the important role CASA plays in 

bolstering the Armenian American presence on Capitol Hill.  Rev. Fr. 

Sarkis Aktavoukian of Soorp Khatch Armenian Apostolic Church in 

Bethesda, MD offered the evening's opening prayer.  Speaking on 

behalf of the program co-hosts were Armenian Assembly Co-Chair-Elect 

Talin Yacoubian and the ANCA's Aram Hamparian. Among dignitaries in 

attendance at the Capitol Hill commemoration were former U.S.  

Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, whose commitment to ending U.S. 

complicity in Turkey's Genocide denial has inspired Armenians the 

world over; Artsakh Representative to the U.S. Robert Avetisyan, who 

has served as the diplomatic spokesman of the Artsakh people in 

Washington, DC for over a decade; and former Turkey Member of 

Parliament Garo Paylan.  

French Parliament Member Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet Issues a Call to Action The evening's keynote 

speaker, France National Assembly Deputy Astrid Panosyan- Bouvet, 

told attendees that "France has decided not to let Armenia alone" in 

the face of ongoing Azerbaijani genocidal aggression. She outlined 

her country's growing political, military, economic, and cultural 

ties with Armenia. She then challenged her U.S.  counterparts, 

asking, "My question to American diplomats based in Paris and my 

fellow American legislators is, why can't America do the same?" 

Members of Congress Focus on Azerbaijani Accountability, the Right of 

Return to Artsakh, and Armenia Security The need for stronger 

U.S.-Armenia military ties, humanitarian aid to Artsakh genocide 

survivors, and concrete efforts to sanction Azerbaijan and hold them 

accountable for their crimes against Artsakh and Armenia were 

constant themes in remarks offered by U.S.  Senate and House members 

throughout the program. Of special focus was identifying a mechanism 

to secure the dignified return of Artsakh Armenians with 

international protection to their homes of millennia.  Sen. Gary 

Peters, who traveled to Armenia last September to see first-hand the 

devastating consequences of Azerbaijan's Artsakh blockade, was 

unequivocal in his assessment.  "This is basically ethnic cleansing 

that Azerbaijan was engaged in. It was something that is 

unacceptable. And it's frustrating to me that the world community did 

not do enough to call this out for the outrage that it was and it 

 is." Upon his return, Sen. Peters led the unanimous passage of 

S.3000-the Armenian Protection Act-which would cut all U.S. military 

aid to Azerbaijan. He urged pro- Artsakh/Armenia advocates to help 

expedite the passage of its House counterpart, H.R.7288, spearheaded 

by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).  

Sen. Bob Menendez, who led the unanimous passage of Senate Armenian Genocide legislation in 2019 and has 

challenged the Biden Administration's failed policy on Artsakh on 

multiple occasions, explained: "What we saw with Azerbaijan's ethnic 

cleansing of Artsakh is deplorable. And, I regret that our government 

was not more forceful. I was pushing them to be far more forceful. 

And now it is time for us once and for all to insist that the 

Administration no longer use its waiver to provide arms to the 

Azerbaijani government." Senator Ed Markey, the lead sponsor of 

S.Res.540, which would require a report by the U.S. State Department 

on Azerbaijan's human rights practices, pursuant to Section 502B(c) 

of the Foreign Assistance Act, noted: "The Azerbaijani government's 

reprehensible actions go back years, and it is long overdue to hold 

Azerbaijan accountable for its conduct towards Armenia. It is also 

well past time to make clear to the Azerbaijani government that it 

must cease all hostilities and return to peace. I will continue to 

work to bolster the will, the rights, the freedoms of the people of 

Nagorno- Karabakh, including their rights to return to their homeland 

and to ensure that Armenia has the support it needs to protect itself 

now and in the future." Congressional Armenian Caucus founding 

Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) called for U.S.  military aid to 

Armenia to protect itself and noted that "there has to be a lot more 

humanitarian assistance for Artsakh, and a way has to be put forward, 

and the U.S. back it, so that the people of Artsakh can go back to 

their country - to go back to Artsakh." Fellow Congressional Armenian 

Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) called Turkey's ongoing 

atrocities in the region "inexcusable" and praised efforts by the 

Hellenic American and Armenian American communities to ensure 

successive presidential administrations support the true U.S. allies 

in the region.  "We'll never give up. We'll never stop fighting," 

stressed Rep. Bilirakis.  

Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Adam Schiff was clear: "As we mark the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide 

with pledges of 'never again,' the democratic and peaceful Armenian 

people face threats that echo their darkest days. The time for strong 

statements by the Administration alone have long passed. Condemnation 

must be followed by real consequences. Crimes against humanity cannot 

be ignored and cannot go unanswered." Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) - the 

only Armenian Assyrian member of Congress - praised the efforts of 

the Armenian American community to secure US recognition of the 

Armenian Genocide but explained: "This doesn't mean that most of our 

work, or the majority of our work is done. We know from what fellow 

Armenians from Nagorno- Karabakh [told us]. They brought them to 

their knees after, what, nine months, food, medicine, all those 

necessary supplies were held from them. And then, at gunpoint, they 

fled with only what they had on their backs. So there's something 

very wrong and immoral about this picture of what has taken place. 

It's up to us and the faith that we have in each other, and the faith 

in justice, faith in decency, understanding that these are ungodlike 

actions that take place in this world, and it's up to us to address 

them."  Rep.  Eshoo, who will be retiring at the end of her term, 

reiterated her leadership on efforts to promote Armenian Genocide 

education, noting that the H.R.2803 currently has close to 100 

co-sponsors.  Turning to Congressional efforts to hold Azerbaijan 

accountable for its war crimes against Armenia and Artsakh, Rep. Dina 

Titus announced plans to introduce the Azerbaijan Sanctions Review 

Act next week. "This will impose various sanctions on Azerbaijani 

officials who directed or carried out the ethnic cleansing of 

Artsakh. It's time that we make them pay - impose costs on them for 

this kind of action," stated Rep. Titus.  

Rep. Judy Chu reflected, "Since we last held this commemoration in April, Azerbaijan has been 

ethnically cleansing 120,000 Armenians from the Nagorno Karabakh. 

Now, I had the honor of visiting Artsakh myself. I saw such 

incredible people with a thriving community, and it makes me so 

heartbroken to think that they have been driven from there and that 

there have been so many that have been imprisoned too. So we must do 

everything that we can. That's why I continue to work with the 

Armenian Caucus colleagues here in Congress to hold Azerbaijan 

accountable for this inexcusable aggression." Central Valley 

California Congressman Tom McClintock called on Turkey to end its 

policy of Genocide denial. "We remember the atrocities of the 

Armenian Genocide and the lessons they teach, and we ask the Turkish 

government to do the same. Of course, children are not guilty for the 

sins of their parents, but honest recognition of the past can prevent 

us from repeating those sins. We take particular note of the recent 

injuries done by their proxies against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh 

and pray that the dark forces responsible will reflect and repent," 

concluded Rep. McClintock.  Rep. Chris Smith discussed the multiple 

hearings he has hosted on Turkey and Azerbaijan both as House Foreign 

Affairs Subcommittee on Human Rights Chair and the Tom Lantos Human 

Rights Commission Co-Chair, including three hearings specifically on 

the Armenian Genocide.  

In describing testimony offered by a Turkish Ambassador, he observed, "He was so arrogant and so condescending, he 

even said, 'you keep this up, we [Turkey] will take your base away in 

Incirlik'. In all candor, go ahead -- we'll move it to Greece." Rep. 

Smith encouraged attendees to "greet" Turkish President Recep Erdogan 

on May 9th, during his White House meeting, expressing willingness to 

hold a press conference to focus on Turkey's ongoing oppression at 

home and repression abroad.  Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) - who 

spearheaded the first U.S. aid package to Artsakh in 1998 - stressed 

the importance of expanding assistance to Artsakh's forcibly 

displaced Armenians and cutting all aid to Azerbaijan.  He went, 

however, to explain, "That's not true justice. True justice is when 

those people can return to their ancestral homes where they lived for 

a thousand and more years in Artsakh. But until that happens, Armenia 

needs the aid that the Administration has promised us if this 

[Supplemental] bill passes, and I think it will pass." Georgia 

Congressman Sanford Bishop, in describing the horrors of the Armenian 

Genocide and its legacy, stated, "The existential threat that 

Armenians face in the Caucasus is a reminder to us all that we 

continue to live the consequences of the Armenian Genocide."  Rep. 

Bishop credited Armenian American staff member Haig Hovsepian for 

emphasizing the need for concrete U.S. action in service to justice.  

Rep. Seth Moulton expressed the importance of U.S. acknowledgment of 

the truth about the Armenian Genocide, spotlighting the resilience of 

the Armenian people in the face of ongoing Azerbaijani aggression. 

"I'm proud that Congress has spoken the truth by recognizing the 

[Armenian] Genocide. And I'm proud that President Biden has done so 

as well. Yet another basic truth is that the suffering of the 

Armenian people has not ended.  

Again, the Armenian people were plunged into bloodshed after Azerbaijan's attacks in 2020 and again 

in 2023," stated Rep. Moulton.  "But just as they did in the 

aftermath of genocide, the Armenian people will rebuild. The Armenian 

people will preserve their vibrant culture. They will tell the truth, 

and they will prosper. And, the United States and this Congress will 

stand with them," concluded Moulton.  Central Valley California 

Congressman Jim Costa demanded accountability for Azerbaijani 

aggression. "Ethnic cleansing continues to take place at Artsakh, 

with over 120,000 Armenians displaced from their homeland, leading to 

the exodus of that region's population. And we must do something 

about it," stated Rep. Costa.  "Since 2022, the President of 

Azerbaijan, like President Putin, has orchestrated deliberate attacks 

and weaponized starvation against the Armenian people, forcing them 

into exile. And they are not through unless we draw the line. Believe 

me. Azerbaijan and Turkey must be held accountable." New York 

Congressman Jamaal Bowman asserted, "I am very happy that the 

President, a few years ago, recognized and called out the Armenian 

Genocide." Rep. Bowman joined the Congressional Armenian Caucus 

earlier in the day.  Maryland State Delegate Dr. Lorig Charkoudian 

masterfully led the evening's proceedings, opening with a very 

personal story of the devastating impact of seeing the Artsakh 

Genocide evolve last September during a visit with her mother at her 

family home where, as a child, she had learned about the horrors of 

the Armenian Genocide from her grandmother who survived that crime.  

Charkoudian, like Armenians around the world, asked herself how this 

tragedy could be repeated again.  

"Tonight, while we call for justice for the Armenian Genocide, while we rededicate ourselves to justice 

for Artsakh," stated Delegate Charkoudian.  "We are so very proud 

that Lorig Charkoudian, a leading Maryland legislator and devoted 

member of our local Armenian community, led our community's annual 

Capitol Hill Armenian Genocide program, the first since Azerbaijan's 

genocide of Artsakh's indigenous Armenians," said Tsoghig Hekimian of 

ANC of Maryland. "She truly represents the very best of our American 

and Armenian traditions - a remarkable role model of civic 

responsibility for our next generation."