ANCA congratulates President Obama
12:14 19.01.2013
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) today, in its
congratulations message on the occasion of Barack Obama’s second
inauguration, called upon the President to `reset’ his relationship
with Armenian Americans with a pre-April 24th policy-level meeting
with the community’s broad-based leadership.
`We are writing to congratulate you on your reelection as President of
the United States, to welcome your inauguration, and, on behalf of our
nation’s two million Americans of Armenian heritage, to reaffirm our
interest in working with your Administration to align U.S. policy with
the principles and priorities that you brought to the White House,’
began the letter to the President.
ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian went on to cite the importance of a
community leadership meeting with the President, which would `provide
a first opportunity for our leadership to hear from you personally
about your perspectives and policies, and to explore areas of future
cooperation.’
The full text of the ANCA letter is provided below.
`Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to congratulate you on your reelection as President of
the United States, to welcome your inauguration, and, on behalf of our
nation’s two million Americans of Armenian heritage, to reaffirm our
interest in working with your Administration to align U.S. policy with
the principles and priorities that you brought to the White House.
It is in this spirit of cooperation, and consistent with your pledge
to actively engage with Armenian American leaders, that we again call
upon you to invite the broad-based leadership of our community to a
meeting with you to discuss your Administration’s policies on Armenian
issues. Such a meeting would allow you to hear directly about our
concerns as well as our expectations for the future. It would also
provide a first opportunity for our leadership to hear from you
personally about your perspectives and policies, and to explore areas
of future cooperation. The absence of such a direct dialogue over the
past four years, despite the considerable attention you have devoted
to issues related to Armenia, has, in our estimation, contributed to
and further compounded the considerable disappointments in terms of
our community’s relationship with our Executive Branch of government.
In light of your still unmet pledge to recognize the Armenian
Genocide, and given the approach of the first April 24th of your
second term in office, we respectfully request, consistent with our
community letter welcoming your first swearing-in, that you extend an
invitation to our broad-based community leadership for a meeting in
March or early April of this year.
Please accept our appreciation for your consideration of our request,
and, once again, our congratulations upon your reelection as President
of the United States of America.’
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
