August 24, 1999

Bay Area Constituents Attend Town Meetings Of Reps. Eshoo, Lee, Stark

August, 1999  -  This summer, Bay Area Armenian National Committee representatives, along with Armenian-American constituents of three Bay Area congressional districts attended district town meetings of  South Bay representative Anna Eshoo, and East Bay representatives Barbara Lee and Pete Stark.

At the town meetings, questions and comments were raised regarding the representatives' positions on issues of concern to Armenian-Americans.

At her recent town meeting in Half Moon Bay, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo answered several questions from Armenian community members.  She informed those present that the Turkish government spends huge sums of money each year trying to convince Congress that the Armenian Genocide didn't happen.

Regarding the ban on aid to Azerbaijan, Rep. Eshoo said, "The U.S. should not throw itself in with those responsible for blockading human beings."  She said that Armenia is a flowering democracy, and that the U.S. should support it.

She spoke of the difficulty of contending with lobbies seeking to bring the U.S. and Azerbaijan closer together.  "We never have an easy time with them, because money counts.  Some of these lobbies have been around for many many years.  Now they want oil and they'll do everything and anything... They say it's the best policy, but they're doing it for the money."

At her town meeting in Oakland, Freshman Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a member of the International Relations Committee, expressed interest in learning more about U.S. policy in the Caucasus as it effects Armenia and about the Armenian Genocide.  Following the town meeting, Gohar Momjian, Roxanne Makasdjian and Oakland constituents Julie Kulhanjian and Joseph Matossian met with Rep. Lee's district staff to further discuss those issues and encourage Rep. Lee's support.

Representative Pete Stark of Fremont accepted the appreciation of Armenian-American constituents present at his town meeting, who thanked him for his principled stances on maintaining the ban on aid to Azerbaijan and Genocide recognition.  Rep. Stark said his hope would be for Caucasus countries to work towards democracy, conflict resolution, and integration of the region.