The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) and the leadership of St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church of Santa Clarita, California recently held a productive meeting with Congressman Steve Knight (R-CA) in his district office.
“The Armenian Assembly and members of the Armenian American community who were part of this meeting are pleased with the discussion we had with Rep. Knight, where he affirmed his support for robust U.S.-Armenia and U.S.-Artsakh relations,” Assembly Western Region Director Mihran Toumajan said.
Currently in his second term in the United States House of Representatives, Congressman Knight represents thousands of Armenian American constituents residing in California’s 25th Congressional District. The geographically large district covers a sizable part of northern Los Angeles County, and includes the Santa Clarita Valley, Simi Valley, the Antelope Valley, and the northern section of the San Fernando Valley.
Rep. Knight is a co-signer of the bipartisan Royce-Engel Letter, which proposes common sense measures to curtail ongoing Azerbaijani military-initiated attacks against citizens of Artsakh and Armenia, and calls upon the OSCE Minsk Group to “publicly condemn specific acts of aggression along the line of contact.” In addition, Rep. Knight is a backer of House Resolution 354, which condemns the May 2017 violence inflicted by Turkish president Erdogan’s security guards upon peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C., and calls for the perpetrators of the attacks to be brought to justice.
The Assembly-led delegation expressed its gratitude to Congressman Knight for his support of Armenian issues in Congress, and also acknowledged his efforts assisting Armenian American constituents during his tenure in the California State Assembly (2008-2012) and the California State Senate (2012-2014).
First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2014, Congressman Knight succeeded the former Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), a long-time friend of Armenian Americans in southern California. Rep. Knight currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the Science Space and Technology Committee, and the Small Business Committee. For the latter committee, he serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.