What would you ask Ambassador Yovanovitch?‏

June 17, 2009 State Dept's Phil Gordon Voices Support for Turkey's Proposed Historical Commission Watch Video Amb.Yovanovitch to Visit Armenian Communities in U.S. Top 5 Concerns What would you ask her? Tell us. House Panel Maintains Aid Level to Armenia; Reverses Administration Push to Tilt Military Aid Balance to Baku | Read Release Azerbaijani Embassy Disinformation Campaign Targets ANCA | Read more Regional Round-up: -- MA: Court Dismisses Lawsuit Demanding Inclusion of Genocide Genocide in Schools | Read more -- CA.: KFI Apologizes for Genocide Comment Read more Profiting from Genocide Denial: Read the AP Report Chevron, Goodyear, among lobbyists against H.Res.252 Amb. Marie Yovanovitch: Town Halls in Massachusetts, New York, California and Washington, DC MA: Fri., June 19 at 7 p.m. Armenian Cultural Foundation 441 Mystic Street, Arlington, MA 02474 NY: Mon., June 22 at 7 p.m. Diocese of the Armenian Church Haik and Alice Kavookjian Hall 630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016 CA: Thurs., June 25 at 7:30 p.m. Western Diocese of the Armenian Church 3325 N. Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, CA 91504 CA: Fri., June 26 at 7:30 p.m. Western Prelacy of the Armenian Church | 6252 Honolulu Avenue, La Crescenta, CA 91214 CA: Sat. June 27, 9:00am to 10:30am USC Davidson Conference Center, 3415 S Figueroa St LA 90089 RSVP - armenian@college.usc.edu DC: Tues., June 30 at 12:30 p.m. Library of Congress, Mumford Room | 1st Street SE, Washington D.C. 20543 Can't attend these events? What would you ask her? Tell us. Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) House Appropriations Subcommittee Allocates $48 Million for Armenia; $10 Million for Karabagh WASHINGTON, DC - The House Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for U.S. foreign aid policy, this morning, voted to maintain U.S. economic assistance to Armenia at last year's level of $48 million and to increase humanitarian assistance to Nagorno Karabagh to an unprecedented annual allocation of $10 million, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). The Subcommittee voted to maintain military assistance parity to Armenia and Azerbaijan, keeping foreign military financing to both countries at $3 million. The panel chose not to accept President Obama's proposals, included in the FY10 budget that he released earlier this year, to reduce economic aid to Armenia by 38%, from $48 million $30 million, and to tilt the military aid balance in favor of Azerbaijan. The Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, which is chaired by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), also strengthened language governing the President's authority to waive Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, a provision of law that restricts aid to Azerbaijan due to its blockades and other offensive actions against Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh. The new language, according those close to the work of the subcommittee, will require closer Congressional consultation prior to any future waivers of this law. "We value Chairwoman Lowey's leadership and the efforts of Rep. Adam Schiff, Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Mark Kirk, Representatives Steve Rothman, Jesse Jackson Jr, Betty McCollum, Barbara Lee, Steve Israel, and our many friends on the Subcommittee for constructively working to address our community's foreign aid priorities," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We are gratified that the panel restored military aid parity, met the Armenian Caucus request of $10 million for Nagorno Karabagh, and strengthened the waiver language for Section 907. We will, in the coming days, seek to build on this progress by working with our friends on the Senate side to bring the economic aid figure to Armenia up to the $70 million level requested by the Armenian Caucus." Read More. . . Azerbaijani Embassy Disinformation Campaign Targets ANCA WASHINGTON, DC - The Azerbaijani government responded today to the Armenian National Committee of America's (ANCA) reports of an emerging United States foreign aid policy double standard toward the countries of the Caucasus countries by circulating a press release bitterly attacking the ANCA and spreading misinformation about aid levels to the region. According to a news release placed on the PRNewswire earlier today, the Azerbaijani Embassy set its sights on the ANCA's recent criticism of the Obama Administration's proposed reduction in U.S. assistance to Armenia in the face of proposed increases for Azerbaijan and Georgia, accusing the Armenian American grassroots group of misrepresenting aid figures to the states of the Caucasus. "Either Azerbaijani Ambassador Yashar Aliyev is out spreading falsehoods around Capitol Hill or he really needs to brush up on his fourth grade math skills," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "These publicly available figures are really rather simple and should be easy enough for even a schoolchild to easily grasp: a proposed 38% reduction in U.S. assistance to Armenia in the face of a 20% increase to Azerbaijan, despite that country's ongoing blockades of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh and President Aliyev's continued threats of renewed war." Read more. . . Mass. Court Dismisses Lawsuit Demanding Inclusion of Genocide Genocide in Schools Judge Mark Wolf WATERTOWN, MA -- In a major setback for genocide denial, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf today dismissed a case initiated at the prompting of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) that would have compelled the inclusion of historically inaccurate Armenian Genocide denial materials in the Massachusetts education curriculum, reported the Armenian National Committee of Massachusetts (ANC of MA). "Today's judgment sends a clear message that the federal court system cannot be abused by genocide deniers to spread their lies across America's classroom," said ANC of MA Chairperson Shari Ardhaldjian. "We welcome this decision and the powerful precedent its sets for the future of genocide education here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and throughout the nation." The ATAA, according to media accounts, solicited the assistance of two local teachers, a student, and his parents to file the case against the state of Massachusetts in 2005. In February of 2006, the Armenian National Committee joined the Armenian Bar Association, Irish Immigration Society, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, and the NAACP in filing an amicus brief in support of the Massachusetts Commonwealth's calls to dismiss the case. The brief was filed and presented by attorney Gabrielle R. Wolohojian, then of Wilmer, Cutler, Hale and Dorr LLP, who championed the case pro-bono. The Armenian Assembly of America also filed an amicus brief. In his opinion, Chief Judge Wolf dismissed the case stating that the plaintiffs are "are not entitled to relief in federal court." The dismissal at this early stage of the proceedings is viewed in legal circles as meaning the cased lacked even minimal merit. Read more. . . KFI Apologizes for Genocide Comment Glendale, CA -- The Armenian National Committee-Western Region (ANC-WR), joined by community organizations and activists, met with KFI640-AM radio show host Bill Handel and station management today regarding offensive comments that aired on Handel's radio show on May 13 and 14 during a discussion between Handel and Lara Hermanson. Acknowledging that a line had been crossed, Handel, KFI and Clear Channel management apologized to the Armenian American community. With Handel himself being a descendent of Holocaust survivors, he also made it clear that recognition of the Armenian Genocide is something he has been aware of and passionate about throughout his career and promised to continue raising awareness about the issue. "We deeply regret the inappropriate comments that were made on Bill Handel's show last month which deeply hurt the Armenian American community. The comments were wrong," said Robin Bertolucci, KFI Program Director. "We take responsibility for this offense as any genocide, including the Armenian Genocide, are serious topics that should not be used as the basis for humor." KFI will be issuing an on-air apology on June 12 at 6:30am. KFI also released a video apology from Hermanson and Handel. Read more. . . Were you, your family or someone you know forced out of your homes in Azerbaijan 1988-1991? Tell us your story. . . Search the web with www.goodsearch.com and money from Yahoo advertisers will go to the ANCA without you spending a dime. A penny per search! Use www.goodshop.com for online purchases from hundreds of popular sites and a percentage comes back to the ANCA. When you GoodSearch & GoodShop - Choose the ANCA ! Published by the Armenian National Committee of America 1711 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 Tel: (202) 775-1918, Fax: (202) 775-5648, E-mail: anca@anca.org, Web: www.anca.org