VOTE ON MARIE YOVANOVITCH DESIGNATION FOR U.S. AMBASSADOR TO RA EXPECTED LATE JULY
PanARMENIAN.Net
02.07.2008 12:40 GMT+04:00
The Senate Committee vote on confirmation of Marie Yovanovitch as
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia will likely be held late July, following
the July 4th Congressional recess.
"The vote was postponed as result of the Senate hearing during which
the Ambassador-designate was asked a number of questions demanding a
written response," U.S. Charge d’Affairs Joseph Pennington said during
a forum held in Yerevan today to discuss Armenia’s Anti-Corruption
Obligations.
President Bush’s previous nominee as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia,
Richard Hoagland, was subject to two legislative holds by Sen. Bob
Menendez (D-NJ) and was ultimately withdrawn by the Administration,
following the nominee’s statements denying the Armenian Genocide.
"The U.S. government – and certainly I – acknowledges and mourns
the mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and forced deportations that
devastated over one and a half million Armenians at the end of the
Ottoman Empire. The United States recognizes these events as one of the
greatest tragedies of the 20th century, the "Medz Yeghern" or Great
Calamity, as many Armenians refer to it. That is why every April the
President honors the victims and expresses American solidarity with
the Armenian people on Remembrance Day," Ms. Marie Yovanovitch said
in her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on
June 19, 2008.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
