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PRESS
RELEASE
For Immediate Release ~ June 25, 2000
Contact: Lucy Keshishian
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AADLC LAUNCHES "ARMENIAN AMERICANS FOR AL GORE"
Rallies Armenian American Support for a Democratic Victory in November
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Falls Church, VA: The Armenian American Democratic Leadership Council (AADLC) today launched "Armenian Americans for Gore," a nation-wide campaign to educate voters about Al Gore's support for Armenia and to mobilize Armenian Americans to help elect him to the presidency this November.
In a statement today to the AADLC, the Vice President welcomed the creation of Armenian Americans for Gore, noting: "I am honored to have the support of Armenian Americans and am proud that 'Armenian Americans for Gore' are organizing. I look forward to continuing to work together in the coming months and years."
The Vice President added: "I salute the important contributions that the Armenian American community has made to this country. Your commitment to faith, family and roots is a tribute to Armenia and a blessing to America. Working together, we'll secure a better future for all of us." Vice President Gore will meet tomorrow with the President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, who is in Washington, D.C. on a working visit.
"Al Gore represents the best choice for our community and country, said Armenian Americans for Gore Chairman Michael Mahdesian. "The Vice President's leadership in initiating the U.S.-Armenia Task Force is only the most recent example of his commitment to a secure, prosperous, and democratic future for the Armenian people."
"We look forward to educating Armenian American voters about Al Gore's track record - as a U.S. Senator and as Vice President - in strengthening the enduring friendship between the American and Armenian peoples," added Mahdesian, who until recently served as Deputy Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development's Bureau of Humanitarian Response.
"The choice for Armenian Americans is clear. George W. Bush and his advisers - from George Schultz and Richard Perle to Paul Wolfowitz - all have long-standing ties to the same oil industry that backed Azerbaijan's aggression against Armenia and sought to suppress the people of Nagorno Karabagh's right to self-determination," said AADLC Co-Chairperson Richelle Noroyan, who served as a delegate to the 1996 Democratic National Convention. "Neither U.S. interests nor American values would be served by placing the oil industry in charge of U.S. policy on Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh."
AADLC: Take Back the House 2000
Parallel to Armenian Americans for Gore, the AADLC continues to press forward with its "AADLC: Take Back the House 2000" campaign to help the Democrats regain the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives this November. The Los Angeles Times on June 18th cited the role of the AADLC in mobilizing Armenian American voters to help Democrat Adam Schiff defeat two-term incumbent James Rogan in California's 27th Congressional district.
"Partisan politics aside, Armenian Americans can agree that the current Republican Congressional leadership has been consistently unfriendly to Armenian American issues, ranging from their opposition to the Armenian Genocide resolution to their efforts to repeal Section 907," said Capitol Hill staffer Raffi Hamparian, who advises AADLC on Congressional affairs. "A vote for Democratic Congressional candidates is a vote for replacing the Republican leadership with proven friends - like Dick Gephardt, Dave Bonior, Pat Kennedy, Bob Menendez, and Frank Pallone."
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Al Gore: The right choice for Armenian Americans
* Strengthening U.S.-Armenia relations
Vice President Gore, after a meeting last year with the late Prime Minister of Armenia, Vasken Sarkissian, personally launched the U.S.-Armenia Task Force. This high-level Task Force met this May in Yerevan and has already begun working to promote economic cooperation, advance progress on market reforms, and maximize the effectiveness of U.S. assistance programs.
During the past seven years, the Administration has negotiated the following treaties with Armenia:
* Treaty on the Reciprocal Encouragement and Protection of Investment
* Agreement on Trade Relations
* Investment Incentive Agreement
* Agreement on the Provision of Humanitarian and Technical Economic Assistance
* Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Earthquake Hazard Reduction
* Agreement on the U.S. Peace Corps Program in Armenia
* Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology
* Agreement on Cooperation on Non-Proliferation & Export Control
* Agreement on the Establishment of the U.S.-Armenia Economic Task Force
* Providing Over $1 Billion in U.S. Aid to Armenia
Vice President Gore and the Administration have provided over $1 billion in assistance to Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh for economic restructuring, exchanges and training, democracy-building, and closer security relations. Among the key elements of the Armenia aid program are:
* Exchanges programs for journalists, teachers, students, and local officials * Nuclear safety programs for the Medzamor Nuclear Power plant * Comprehensive energy, banking, and real estate sector reforms * A $10 million endowment fund for the American University of Armenia * Democracy building, legal reform, and media training programs * Food, fuel, and medicine to help offset the Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades
* Lifting the Azerbaijani Blockades
Vice President Gore has spoken out on the need for Azerbaijan to carry out demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh. (1/21/2000 statement to AADLC)
* Building Regional Peace
Vice President Gore and the Administration have worked to mediate a durable, mutually acceptable peace for Nagorno Karabagh. Vice President Gore has pledged that as President he would ensure that the United States is prepared to act as a partner, assisting in the further development of prosperity and stabilization that will come after a settlement is reached.
* Working for Armenia's Security
The Vice President and the Administration supported Armenia's participation in NATO's Partnership for Peace and have initiated a dialogue with the Armenian government on a broad range of security issues.
* Armenian Genocide Commemoration
As a U.S. Senator, Al Gore voted in 1990 to designate April 24th as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. As Vice President, he has joined with Armenian Americans in remembering the deportations and massacre of a million and a half Armenians in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. (Letter to AADLC 4/15/1999)
* Armenian American Participation in Government
In sharp contrast to the closed-door policy of the Reagan-Bush years, the Vice President and the Administration have welcomed Armenian Americans into the White House and encouraged Armenian Americans to play an active role in the consideration of policy toward the Caucasus region. The Administration has also brought on board a number of Armenian Americans, including Michael Mahdesian, who served as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Response, Aram Kailian, who works with the Vice President's office, and Sylvia Parsons who serves on the White House staff.
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