Joint Armenian Assembly and St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church Delegation Meets with Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53) in San Diego
LOS ANGELES, CA – A joint Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) and St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church of San Diego delegation was pleased to meet and discuss Armenian American policy priorities with Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53) in her San Diego District Office.
The delegation included Very Rev. Fr. Pakrad Berjekian, Pastor of St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church; Mr. Yerevan Ohannessian, Parish Council Chairman of St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church; Mrs. Sylvia Parsons, Rep. Jacobs’ constituent and an Assembly member and activist; Mr. Arthur Kokozian, Assembly Los Angeles County Regional Committee member; and Mihran Toumajan, Assembly Western Region Director.
Serving in her first term in Congress, Rep. Jacobs is a Member of the influential House Foreign Affairs and House Armed Services committees respectively. She also serves on several informal caucuses and commissions, including on the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and as Co-Chair of the recently established Protection of Civilians in Conflict Caucus.
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Delegates thanked Congresswoman Jacobs for her co-sponsorship of House Resolution 240, a resolution calling for the release and repatriation of Armenian POWs and captured civilians unlawfully held hostage by the government of Azerbaijan, in addition to her co-sponsorship of H.R.7555, the Armenian Genocide Education Act.
Members of the delegation educated Rep. Jacobs on Azerbaijan’s ongoing attacks on the Armenian people in Artsakh and in Armenia. Further, delegates endeavored to raise awareness on Rep. Jackie Speier’s sponsored House Resolution 1400, which condemns war crimes and human rights violations committed by Azerbaijan against Armenians – in contravention to the Geneva Conventions – and encourages the U.S. government and the international community to petition the ICJ, ECHR, and other relevant international tribunals to investigate war crimes committed by Azerbaijani forces at the direction of its autocratic leader Ilham Aliyev. Delegates also shed light on the significance of House Resolution 1351, a recently introduced resolution by Rep. Adam Schiff, which condemns Azerbaijan’s unprovoked military attack on Armenia and calls for the full enforcement of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act.
Photo caption (from left to right): Arthur Kokozian, Mihran Toumajan, Sylvia Parsons, Rep. Sara Jacobs, Very Rev. Fr. Pakrad Berjekian, Yerevan Ohannessian.
Armenian Assembly of America