Congressman Steve Israel recommitted his support to issues of importance to Armenian-Americans at a district meeting in Hauppauqe, N.Y. organized by the Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region. Constituents attending the meeting were ANCA activists Narek Boudakian, Neshan Koulian, and Lorig Hamparian. They were joined by ANCA Eastern Region executive director Garo Manjikian.

"I appreciated the opportunity to meet with Armenian-American Long Islanders," Rep. Israel said. "We talked about a number of important issues including aid to Armenia, Azerbaijan's June 18th attack on Mardarkert, and the need to recognize the Armenian Genocide. These are important and complex issues and I valued the input from this meeting."

"Congressman Israel is a staunch supporter of Armenian issues," said Manjikian. "He has co-sponsored the Armenian Genocide Resolution the past four congressional sessions and plays a large role in increasing U.S. foreign aid to both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh."

Congressman Israel is one of 145 cosponsors of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res. 252, which passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee with a vote of 23-22 on March 4. He also sits on Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, which voted to allocate $44 million to Armenia and $10 million to Nagorno Karabakh.