“It can be said non-stop. We have had meetings in Armenia without breaks,” the co-chair of the Committee on Armenian Affairs, congresswoman Jackie Speier, expressed this opinion about her visit to Armenia during the online meeting held at the initiative of the Armenian Assembly of America. Starting in September 18, at the invitation of RA NA Speaker Allen Simonyan, the delegation led by Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, Nancy Pelosi, including Jackie Speier, was in Armenia.
She remembered that when they came out after the meeting with the representatives of the political society at the Cafesjian Art Center, people in Yerevan were smiling at them, waving the flags of the USA and Armenia. The congressman with Armenian heritage recalled, “An old woman looked at us and said: please protect Armenia. This is actually our mission. Forty percent of the Armenian diaspora lives in California. The mission of each of us is to preserve Armenia. The Armenian government recognizes that they can no longer rely on Russia for Armenia’s security issues, and it is time for Armenia to be an independent democracy and, like many former USSR countries, such as Georgia, Latvia, and Estonia, to be independent. To be independent means to cut ties with Russia and look to the West.”
Jackie Speier highlighted the importance and effectiveness of the meetings with the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, which took place two weeks before their visit, and as a result of these meetings, they were presented with proposals that the Congress is considering. On this occasion, the congresswoman said, “Now we are discussing these recommendations in order to understand how we can help our homeland. This will be a healthy step for Armenia to turn to the West, and it will allow the US to be progressive in terms of resources.”
Jackie Speier emphasized that after Azerbaijan’s attack and invasion of RA sovereign territory, the Speaker of the House of Representatives came to Armenia and did not delay her visit. And she mentioned, “It shows our readiness. The Resolution 1351 presented by Adam Schiff, of which I am the co-author, is very important. It condemns Azerbaijan for invading the territory of Armenia and demands that they withdraw from the territories they have now occupied. This resolution writes in black and white that war crimes were committed by Azerbaijan against Armenia, targeting military facilities, civilian infrastructures, and civilians. There are videos about how Azerbaijan allegedly helps an Armenian soldier, but then returns his dead body, and about how they mutilated the bodies of female servicemen. All of these are war crimes and should be investigated in international courts. The UN Court must condemn them, and this particular resolution we authored also attempts to do so.”
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Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
