Author: Boshkezenian Garik

Transcript of Speaker Pelosi’s Comments on the Armenian Genocide Resolution

The Armenian Weekly
Oct. 17, 2007

WASHINGTON (A.W.)-Below is the transcript of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s
Oct. 17 comments on the Armenian Genocide Resolution, obtained by the
Armenian Weekly from the Speaker’s Press Office.

Q: Madam Speaker, I understand that you’re talking about SCHIP but you have
made a very powerful, very impassioned case for the need to bring the
Armenian resolution for a vote, you say for principle and for moral reasons.
Do you still intend to do that despite the fact that many of your Democratic
colleagues are saying that they’re not going to support it anymore?

A: Well this is an initiative of our caucus. It has 60
cosponsors -Republican cosponsors – including the ranking member of the
Armed Services Committee, Mr. Duncan Hunter. That group has organized the
initiative for the Armenian genocide resolution. And by the way –
nevertheless, I’ll be working with them to see what their wish is. Do you
have a copy of the statement that I [unintelligible]? Because I think that
the important thing is to – if you haven’t already seen this, and I imagine
that you have – this statement says, "The Armenians were subjected to a
genocidal campaign that defies comprehension and that commands all decent
people to remember and acknowledge the facts and lessons of an awful crime
in a century of bloody crimes against humanity. If elected President, I will
ensure that our nation properly recognizes the suffering of the Armenian
people." George W. Bush, candidate for President. And what he said at the
time was consistent with what President Ronald Reagan said when he was
President. It is consistent with what our diplomats said at the time of the
genocide, that it was such. That word didn’t exist at the time, but that it
was a planned annihilation of a race. So there is reason to bring this to
the floor. Whether those who had been advocating it go to that place remains
to be seen, but the fact is that genocide occurred. Right now, though, we
have short fuses on SCHIP, on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, on
our appropriations bills, so we have other matters on the agenda that have
to be dealt with first. But I respect what the president said at the time of
his –

Q: But you are one of those major advocates for this –

A: I said if they could get it through the committee, unless they could get
it through the committee, we could not bring it to the floor. So I have
always supported it, as did the previous leader of the Democrats in the
Congress, Congressman Gephardt. Almost everybody supports it because they
know it is right. Whether it will come up or not, or what the action will
be, remains to be seen. But today we are engaged in a major fight about the
health of America’s children, and that is what our focus is. And again,
yesterday Easter Seals, tomorrow March of Dimes – the President is alone,
and he’s dragging some of his House members with him down his path. Let me
just say, at the end of the day, if you want to know about passion and
politics, at the end of the day, 10 million children will have health
insurance in our country. Thank you all. Thank you Bethany, thank you Dara,
thank you Bo.

ARMENIAN FORCES VIOLATE CEASEFIRE IN GAZAKH AND AGHDAM AGAIN

Azeri Press Agency
Oct 16 2007

Armenian Armed Forces continue to violate the ceasefire, Azerbaijan
Defense Ministry’s press service told the APA.

The enemy fired on the positions of Azerbaijani Armed Forces with
machine and submachine guns from their positions in Vazashen village
of Ijevan region from 20.40 till 20.45, Sarijali village of Aghdam
region from 23.10 on October 15. The enemy was silenced by response
fire. No casualties were reported.

SHAKHRIYAR MAMEDYAROV DEFEATS ARMENIAN GRANDMASTER

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 16 2007

Azeri grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has started successfully in
the international tournament Essent held in Hoogeven, Netherlands.

Azeri grandmaster achieved successive victories over Lyuk van
Veli(Netherlands) and Zaven Andrisyan(Armenia) in the first round,
APA-Sport reports. Today the 22-year old Azeri grandmaster is to meet
Ruslan Ponamaryov(Ukraine), who enjoys 1,5 points.

The festival’s open tournament has already left four rounds behind.

Turkan Mamedyarova with 3 points out of 4 matches has best results
there yet. Eltaj Safarli and Zeynab Mamedyarova have 2,5 and 2 points
respectively. The tournament with euro 7500 prize fund will last till
October 20.

New Israeli ambassador to Turkey on the genocide issue: ‘lobbying has limits’

EJP

Updated: 15/Oct/2007 17:16

Gabby Levy, new Israeli ambassador to Turkey.

ANKARA (EJP)—Emphasizing that Israel gives utmost importance to its
relations with Turkey, Gabby Levy, the newly appointed Israeli
ambassador to Turkey said that Israel has done everything it could to
stop the Armenian genocide resolution at the US Congress.

Born in Turkey and son of a Turkish Jewish family, Levy told Turkey’s
English-language Today’s Zaman newspaper that the US government is
also against the resolution and that it is wrong to blame the Jewish
lobby in the United States.

A New York-based Jewish organization, the Anti-Defamation League
(ADL), recently reversed its long-time policy and said the killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 "were indeed tantamount to
genocide."

Levy said "lobbying has limits" and that the resolution is a result of
US domestic politics.

He added that he did not believe the resolution’s passage would harm
relations between Israel and Turkey in the long run and cited the
invitation to Ankara of Hamas officials and the short-term crisis
created by it as an example.

The US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs last week
approved a resolution calling the 1915 killings of Armenians genocide,
despite White House warnings that it would do great harm to ties with
NATO ally Turkey, a key supporter in the Iraq war.

The vote outraged the Turkish government which issued a statement
stating that the "irresponsible" resolution was likely to endanger
bilateral relations. Turkey rejects the Armenian claims and says the
genocide issue should be tackled by historians.

Levy said Israel was pleased about Turkey’s role between his country
and the Palestinians. "The Western countries send money to the
Palestinians, but Turkey brings lasting solutions by establishing
industrial areas," he said.

***

Gabby Levy was born in 1948 in an old neighborhood of Bergama, a tiny
town in the Aegean region.

His Turkish-Jewish family migrated to Israel when Levy was four.

He still has a number of close relatives living in Ýzmir and Istanbul.

Source:

PLAYING POLITICS WITH GENOCIDE

By RALPH PETERS

October 14, 2007 — In the midst of the First World War, the Young
Turks who had taken over the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against
their Armenian subjects. At least a million Armenians were murdered –
with nauseating cruelty – or died of abuse, heat, hunger and thirst.

The only reason any survived was that the Turks lacked the
administrative skills and technologies to kill everyone. Not every
captive fit into the burning churches. On the death marches across
Anatolia into the Syrian desert, guards ran out of bullets. And even
sadists grew weary of bayoneting children and clubbing old men to
death.

Women were raped by the tens of thousands. Many were raped repeatedly.
Then they were killed. Or enslaved. Or left to die of exposure by the
roadside.

Ancient communities were annihilated. A magnificent culture – the
remnants of the world’s first Christian kingdom – drowned in blood.

Only Turks question this history. The eyewitness accounts are
extensive – not only from Armenian survivors, but from American and
German consuls and missionaries. The documentation is readily
available (texts crowd one of my bookshelves).

Hitler cited the Armenian Genocide as an inspiration for the Holocaust
– the lesson he drew was that the Turks got away with it. The world
never intervened. Apologists for the Allies blamed the war. The truth
is that the eyewitnesses went ignored: Armenian lives had less value
then than do those of Darfur refugees today.

Last Wednesday, the Democrat-controlled House Foreign Affairs
Committee passed a resolution formally declaring the Armenian tragedy
what it was: genocide. Speaker Nancy Pelosi intends to bring the
resolution to a vote on the floor, after which it would go to the
Senate.

We need to stop it. It’s a travesty and a betrayal. Of
Armenian-Americans. And of our troops.

Make no mistake: I’m on the Armenian side in the court of history.
When the same resolution came up in years past, I supported it. The
Armenian survivors – their descendents, at this point – deserve
justice.

And I have no sympathy with the Turks. The Turks are jerks. After the
United States supported them unswervingly for more than a
half-century, they stiffed us the single time we needed help – when we
asked to move an Army division through Turkey on the eve of Operation
Iraqi Freedom.

And the Ankara government has led an internal campaign of
anti-Americanism far more lurid and vicious than the old Soviet bloc’s
anti-Western propaganda. It’s not just Turkey’s Islamists, but its
secular nationalists, too. The anti-American hatred spewing from the
Turkish media is uglier than Barbra Streisand at four in the morning.

The Turks tormented their Kurdish minority for decades – and express
outrage when Kurds respond. Now they’re threatening to invade northern
Iraq, while whining that honor-killings, pervasive corruption and
anti-Western venom shouldn’t deny them membership in the EU.

Despite all that, we’ve got to kill this resolution. It’s not the
wording – but the timing.

Legislation similar to this has come up repeatedly in Congress, yet
it’s always been defeated – in 2000, because of pressure from the
Clinton administration. But if the resolution passes the House and
Senate now, the Turks plan to evict us from Incirlik airbase in
southeastern Turkey, to halt our military over-flight privileges and
to shut down the supply routes into northern Iraq.

That’s what the Democrats are aiming at. This resolution isn’t about
justice for the Armenians. Not this time. It’s a stunningly devious
attempt to impede our war effort in Iraq and force premature troop
withdrawals.

The Dems calculate that, without those flights and convoys, we won’t
be able to keep our troops adequately supplied. Key intelligence and
strike missions would disappear.

The Pentagon might be able to improvise other options. But the loss of
the base and those routes would definitely hurt our troops. Severely.
And we’d be more reliant than ever on a single, vulnerable lifeline
running from Kuwait.

It’s a brilliant ploy – the Dems get to stab our troops in the back,
but lay the blame off on the Turks. They pretend they’re responding to
their Armenian-American constituents – while actually moving to
placate MoveOn.org.

For the Democrats in Congress, it looks like a cost-free strategy. For
our troops? When did the Dems give a damn about our troops? This
resolution isn’t a stand in favor of historical justice. It’s an
end-run that ducks behind the bench. It’s one of the most cynical
betrayals in our legislative history – of our troops, of
Armenian-Americans, of the Kurds under threat from the Turkish
military and of the people of Iraq.

We can’t let Pelosi & Co. get away with this one. We need to call the
Dems on it and make it clear that we, the people, know what they’re
trying to do.

Every human being with a drop of Armenian blood deserves justice. This
isn’t it.

"Ralph Peters’ latest book is "Wars of Blood and Faith."

Source: pedcolumnists/playing_politics_with_genocide.htm

Africasia, UK
Oct 14 2007

Democrats press on with genocide bill despite Turkish fury

Top US Democrats Sunday brushed off Turkish fury and vowed to press
ahead with an Armenian "genocide" bill, insisting that bloodshed
today demanded a righting of past wrongs.

But Republicans accused the party in control of Congress of waging an
"irresponsible" campaign of dubious historical validity that would
hurt US troops in Iraq.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said possible reprisals
affecting Turkey’s cooperation with the US military were
"hypothetical" and would not derail the resolution.

"I said if it passed the committee that we would bring it to the
floor," she said on ABC television after the House foreign affairs
committee last week branded the Ottoman Empire’s World War I massacre
of Armenians a genocide.

"Genocide still exists, and we saw it in Rwanda; we see it now in
Darfur," Pelosi said.

"Some of the things that are harmful to our troops relate to values
— Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, torture. All of those issues (are) about
who we are as a country," she added.

According to Armenians, at least 1.5 million Armenians were killed
from 1915 to 1917 under an Ottoman Empire campaign of deportation and
murder. Turkey bitterly disputes the number of dead and the
characterization of "genocide."

The bill is likely to come up in the full House in November. Although
the resolution is only symbolic, Turkey recalled its ambassador to
Washington last week and has called off visits to the United States
by at least two of its officials.

The angry reaction has fueled fears within the US administration that
it could lose access to a military base in NATO ally Turkey that
provides a crucial staging ground for US supplies headed to Iraq and
Afghanistan.

Two top US officials, one each from the state and defense
departments, are now in Turkey to try to cool the diplomatic row.

"We are certainly working to try to minimize any concrete steps the
government might take (such as) restricting the movement of our
troops," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday in
Moscow.

Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates lobbied hard against the
genocide resolution, and the administration says it will keep up its
effort to forestall a vote in the full House of Representatives.

US-Turkish military ties "will never be the same again" if the House
confirms the committee vote, Turkey’s military chief General Yasar
Buyukanit told the daily Milliyet on Sunday.

House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said that he had repeatedly
raised the Armenia killings with Turkish political and military
leaders during his 26 years in Congress.

"Never once in that quarter of a century has anybody on the Turkish
government said this is the right time. In other words, there would
never be a right time," he said on Fox News Sunday.

"If we forget what has happened… then we are at risk of letting it
happen again."

House Republican leader John Boehner said there was no doubt that the
Armenian people’s suffering in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire
was "extreme."

"But what happened 90 years ago ought to be a subject for historians
to sort out, not politicians here in Washington," he said.

"And I think bringing this bill to the floor may be the most
irresponsible thing I’ve seen this new Congress do this year,"
Boehner said, calling Turkey "a very important ally in our war
against the terrorists."

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said there was "no question"
that Armenians had been slaughtered en masse.

"But I don’t think the Congress passing this resolution is a good
idea at any point. But particularly not a good idea when Turkey is
cooperating with us in many ways, which ensures greater safety for
our soldiers," he said.

item.php?area=mideast&item=071014153848.wvsrv7 ph.php

PanARMENIAN.Net

U.S. House of Representatives to vote on H.Res.106 till yearend
12.10.2007 16:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy
Pelosi (D-CA) said she will not back down to Turkish and White House
pressure and intends to bring the Armenian Genocide resolution (H.
Res. 106) to the floor for a vote by the full House, the Armenian
Assembly of America reported.

The announcement from Pelosi came one day after the resolution was
approved by a bi-partisan majority of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee.

"We applaud Speaker Pelosi for standing firm on her commitment to
history and truth," said Armenian Assembly Executive Director Bryan
Ardouny. "The opponents of this common-sense resolution – including
the White House and the Turkish government and its army of lobbyists –
have thrown every excuse at the resolution trying to create a
political tsunami to prevent a vote. The entire Armenian-American
community stands united with Speaker Pelosi and commends her for
standing firm in the face of this alarmist drumbeat and outright
blackmail by Turkey and its deniers. We know we have the support to
pass it into law and I look forward to the full House going on record
on this critical issue that has been neglected for far too long."

Regarding Turkey’s recall of their ambassador to the U.S. in response
to the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s vote affirming the Armenian
Genocide, Ardouny said, "The House demonstrated yesterday that they
won’t allow the war in Iraq to be used as leverage against
them. Members of Congress stood up against those pressure tactics by
affirming the Armenian Genocide and we’re encouraged by the fact that
Speaker Pelosi went on the record today in defense of the truth."

Lragir, Armenia
Oct 12 2007

ARMENIA AND TURKEY. WORTHY NEIGHBORS

If it goes on like this, October 10 will be marked in red on the
calendar and will be celebrated as a day of victory of the nation.
The joy and triumphant pathos with which official and unofficial
Armenia and the Armenians worldwide mark the affirmation of
Resolution 106 by the U.S. House Committee of Foreign Relations
compares to the joy and pathos that followed the liberation of
Shushi, as well as the victory in the war. If in that case joy and
pathos were quite natural, in the case of the resolution it is not
quite so.

What has happened? The U.S. House Committee affirmed a resolution for
discussion and voting by the U.S. House. This time there is
likelihood of success because the majority and the speaker are
Democrats and will not prevent the issue from the floor of the house,
like the Republican Speaker Hastert did last time. That is all. In
other words, something happened that had happened before, and what
could be a precedent has not happened yet. In other words, the issue
has not been included on the agenda of the House, and this is not the
first time the Committee of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the Armenian
Genocide.

The present joy of the Armenians reminds of the guy who hails success
before swimming across the river. What is the problem? If the
Armenian lobby hails the affirmation of the resolution by the House
Committee as a major victory, it is quite natural. For this fact
makes think that lobbying is effective, and the immense sums are not
wasted. Therefore, the lobby is supposed to exaggerate the most
insignificant result and create an illusion of a great victory.

It is also clear, however, why official Yerevan is in high spirits.
The point is that over the past few years the foreign policies of
Armenia are so poor that no reason for inspiration and joy is
outlining, except for one country or another which recognizes the
Armenian Genocide. Projects and organizations of world importance are
created around us, and we, aloof of it, are happy with every document
on the genocide that is adopted. It is certainly good that the world
is eventually coming closer to the recognition of the genocide.
However, is it the same to us what the reason is? Is it the same why
suddenly the European and Russian media enthusiastically report the
resolution adopted by the U.S. House Committee, the possible waves of
the U.S. and Turkish relations?

In fact, this fuss is an excellent opportunity for propagating the
skillful foreign policy of Armenia which has turned the Armenian
issue into a factor of international politics and the media of the
world powers are focusing on the problem of Armenians. In reality,
all this is but a propaganda device and is no reference to the
reality. Meanwhile, the reality is that the Armenian issue has become
part of the geopolitical process from which we do not benefit but the
country benefits which manipulates the issue directly or indirectly.
For instance, when Russia reports that the U.S. and Turkish relations
are getting worse due to the Armenian resolution, the aim is not to
raise awareness of the Armenian resolution in the world but the
expectation that it will push Turkey to warm relations with Russia.
After all, Russia has recognized the Genocide many years ago, and it
is already past. The same is with Europe which has also recognized
it, and hopes that after breaking relations with the United States
Turkey will face Europe, and this country will become more obedient
for Europe.

What is Armenia’s benefit that the propaganda machine is so
hilarious? Perhaps Armenia hopes that this process will push Turkey
to soften its stance regarding relations with our country. No
softening is noticed yet. Moreover, it feels to have become tougher.
The ongoing process allows asserting that Turkey’s stance will not
become softer since Turkey is powerful enough and has a quite
deciding importance in the region, and no country, even if it really
aims at conciliation of Armenia and Turkey, will not be able to reach
the critical point of pressure to leave no other way for Turkey but
friendship with Armenia.

Certainly, the question occurs why Turkey is so nervous and sensitive
about this process. Because it is our worthy neighbor. Turks feel
nervous just like we feel joyful about a process which has nothing to
do with us. We are worthy neighbors and opponents, and instead of
discussing our problems together we are discussing them through the
world.

JAMES HAKOBYAN

TWO JOURNOS CONVICTED OF ‘INSULTING TURKISHNESS’

The Gate – National Journal, DC
Oct 12 2007

A Turkish court has convicted two journalists for publishing
content that mentions the Armenian genocide, following a vote by
a U.S. congressional panel officially declaring the Ottoman Empire
massacres to be genocide.

Arat Dink and Serkis Seropyan, editors at a Turkish-Armenian weekly,
were given one-year suspended sentences under a law that makes it a
crime to "insult" Turkish culture. The government of Turkey officially
denies that the early 20th-century genocide took place, despite the
widespread consensus of historians.

Dink is the son of slain Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink , who
himself was convicted for writing about the genocide. He was gunned
down in January of this year by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist.

Newspapers published photographs of Turkish police officers proudly
posing with the assassin. The resulting outrage led to the officers’
dismissal, according to Turkey’s official news agency.

Turks woke up today to angry headlines about yesterday’s 27-21 House
Foreign Relations Committee vote, one of which read, "27 Stupid
Americans." Protesters took to the streets, and Ankara recalled its
ambassador in Washington to discuss the situation, AP reported. The
Turkish government warned it would act in response to the vote,
but as of now insists the ambassador has not been withdrawn. The
resolution condemning the Armenian genocide is strongly opposed by
the White House.

ARMENIAN CHURCH LEADER TO VISIT SOUTH FLORIDA
By Jennifer Lebovich

Miami Herald, FL
Oct 12 2007

Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians, begins his tour of
South Florida next week

Vartan Joulfayan is pastor of St. Mary Armenian Church in Cooper City,
where His Holiness Karekin II will lead the Blessing of Khachkars.

Arbo Zakaryan’s sons will take the day off Monday — one missing
school, the other work — for the chance to be blessed by their
religious leader.

His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians, will lead services at two South Florida churches next week
as part of a month’s trip to America.

"It will probably be once in a lifetime," said Zakaryan, who is on
the parish council at St. Mary Armenian Church, 405O NW 100th Ave. in
Cooper City. "I’ll be able to kiss his hand. That’s a great honor
for me. I hear he is a very friendly person."

About 15,000 Armenians have settled in South Florida, and many are
eager to meet Karekin II during his 18-city visit across the United
States.

"His holiness wants to know his Armenian sons and daughters in
America and let them better know him," said Michael O’Hurley-Pitts,
communications director for the visit.

Karekin II, the leader of seven million Armenian Christians, didn’t
just want to stop in cities with large concentrations of Armenians,
like Chicago, but also in South Florida to meet with as many of his
flock as possible.

On Tuesday, he will be at St. Mary Armenian Church, for the Blessing
of Khachkars — stone crosses on the altar. The nine crosses were
brought from Armenia earlier in the year, and church officials thought
it would be fitting to have them blessed by the holy leader.

PIZZA WITH PONTIFF

First he will visit St. David Armenian Church in Boca Raton, meeting
with the church’s youth over a pizza supper Monday before leading
a service.

"He loves listening to the youth’s concerns, their voices," said
Vartan Joulfayan, the pastor at St. Mary Armenian Church. "Pizza with
the pontiff, you don’t hear that very often."

The Armenian liturgy is similar to that of the Roman Catholic Church.

Armenia converted to Christianity in 301 A.D., O’Hurley-Pitts said.

As Karekin II has led churches in prayer, he has stressed the
importance of making the religious experience more than just going
to church on Sunday.

"One of the things he talks about quite often is understanding
responsibility with Christian values," O’Hurley-Pitts said. "It has
to be more than an experience of Sunday morning. We have to bring it
home and make it part of our family lives."

The number of churches in Armenia has grown from 13 at the end of the
Soviet Era to 250 today. Karekin II was elected to head the church
in 1999 and made his first official visit to the U.S. in 2001.

He leads Habitat for Humanity projects and urges young people to
donate their time.

His calls for charity hit home with Rosemary Mencia, of Fort
Lauderdale, who met him two years ago during a trip to Armenia.

Along with her husband, Andy, she has donated medical equipment for
a hospital Karekin II is rebuilding.

"He is very humble and compassionate, and his coming here to America
is really to bring home the faith to the people," said Mencia, who
is on the parish council of St. David Armenian Church. The church
has been preparing for the visit for months.

Pastor Joulfayan is always concerned with helping people reconnect
with the church and strengthening the faith members.

"His visit will greatly help with bringing people back to the church
and giving the faith back to them . . . so they may be renewed,"
said Joulfayan, who had the chance to meet with Karekin II in New
York earlier in his trip. "His visit and his personal touch will
greatly help the revitalization of the church."

PRAYER AT CAPITOL

As part of this trip, he delivered the morning prayer in the U.S.

House of Representatives on Wednesday — the same day the House Foreign
Affairs Committee approved a measure that would recognize the World
War I-era killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as a genocide.

The move has been staunchly opposed by Turkey, and President Bush spoke
against it, saying it would harm relations between the U.S. and Turkey.

Beginning in 1915, as many as 1.5 million Armenians were reportedly
killed by the Ottoman Turks.

Turkey has denied that the killings were genocide and said the death
toll has been inflated. But Karekin II’s spokesman said the U.S.

visit has been in the planning stages for two years and is of a
spiritual, not political nature.

After the killings, Armenians fled their native land, with many coming
to the United States, which is home to about a million Americans of
Armenian descent.

Seta Baldadian left Lebanon for Florida in 1977, finding her friends
through the Armenian Church.

CENTER OF LIFE

"The church is the center of Armenian life," said Baldadian, the
regional chairwoman for the pontiff’s visit to South Florida. "This
is where we worship, where our youth gather. Everyone from all over
the world will first look for the Armenian Church."

Baldadian has been carefully planning Karekin II’s visit since January,
with daily meetings the past few weeks leading up to his arrival. He
will land in Boca, where a young girl will greet him flowers, and a
boy will have bread and salt to receive his blessing.

"He brings faith to our homes, blesses us, leads us, sees our needs and
our concerns," said Baldadian, of Boca Raton. "It’s a very uplifting
and very blessed occasion."

roward/story/268800.html