{"id":13952,"date":"2017-11-22T11:29:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T11:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=13952"},"modified":"2017-11-22T11:29:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T11:29:00","slug":"valadao-briefs-central-valley-armenian-community-on-his-trip-to-artsakh-and-de-mining-appropriation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=13952","title":{"rendered":"Valadao Briefs Central Valley Armenian Community on his Trip to Artsakh and De-Mining Appropriation"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANCA’s Aram Hamparian Thanks Congressman Valadao at Fresno Gathering<\/strong><\/p>\n

FRESNO, CA \u2013 Armenian Americans from across California\u2019s Central Valley gathered Friday evening for a community briefing by Congressman David Valadao and Armenian National Committee of America<\/a> (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Suren Hamparian. The event, hosted by ANCA-Central California<\/a> and moderated by former Fresno County Supervisor and longtime civic leader Debbie Poochigian, focused on Representative Valadao\u2019s leadership in securing U.S. appropriations for Artsakh de-mining, and also his recent trip to both Artsakh and Armenia.<\/p>\n

The program featured opening remarks by Poochigian, a presentation by the Congressman, who serves as Co-Chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, about his legislative leadership and travel to Artsakh. Also on the agenda was an advocacy update from Hamparian and a lengthy question and answer session. The event, held in the Garo and Alice Gureghian Armenian Cultural Center in Fresno, ended with a robust round of applause for the Congressman\u2019s hard work on behalf of issues of special concern to the Fresno area\u2019s large and active Armenian community.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the U.S. House adopted the Valadao Amendment, allocating continued U.S. finding to the HALO Trust to complete the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance from across Artsakh, bring vast tracts of otherwise fallow land back into agricultural production. The de-mining operation also employs hundreds of locals, who have an intimate knowledge of the landscape.<\/p>\n

The Hanford-based representative \u2013 describing his successful efforts to overcome legislative opposition to his amendment \u2013 noted that: \u2018Whenever a member of Congress would have an issue with (the amendment), the simple question was \u2018what issue is there with removing land mines that are blowing up farms\u2026 who is going to argue against that?\u201d Representative Valadao described the process of mine-clearance, during a demonstration by the HALO Trust: \u2018These folks spend hours digging around a little land mine just to find it, secure it, and essentially blow it up\u2026 To have the opportunity to see them and go through the experience\u2026 made me proud to support this effort.\u2019<\/p>\n

Rep. Valadao shared with the audience that he was warned not to travel to Artsakh by the State Department, which has traditionally backed Baku\u2019s ban on international visits, but chose to travel there to see, first-hand, the work funded by U.S. taxpayers and sustained through his legislative leaderships. Commenting on being blacklisted by Azerbaijan\u2019s Aliyev regime for making this trip, he noted: \u201c\u2018I didn\u2019t think being in (Artsakh) would get me blacklisted by another country for doing something that most people would consider as a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his remarks, ANCA\u2019s Aram Hamparian provided background on the Valadao Amendment, reviewing this history of the U.S. aid program to Artsakh and the vital impact of the Congressman\u2019s advocacy in sustaining a major U.S. investment in the peace of a strategically important region. He touched on the material benefits of U.S. aid \u2013 ranging from maternal healthcare and clean drinking water to mine-clearance \u2013 as well as the moral dimension of America, over Baku\u2019s objections, directing U.S. funds directly to the independent republic.<\/p>\n

Both Valadao and Hamparian welcomed the strong statement of support for Artsakh demining from U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who affirmed, on the record, that the United States \u201cremains focused on completing the demining as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.\u2019 Hamparian, recalling that appropriations for Artsakh were allocated either without comment or even reluctantly by past administrations, noted that Tillerson\u2019s comments may signal a more constructive approach by the State Department on the question of Artsakh\u2019s self-determination.<\/p>\n

As part of the Congressional delegation\u2019s tour of Armenia, the Central Valley Congressman made various visits in Yerevan, including the Armenian Genocide Memorial (Dzidzernagapert) and the American University, where he was particularly impressed by the business and IT programs. Joining Rep. Valadao on his visit to Armenia were Reps. Jackie Speier (CA), Frank Pallone (NJ), Anna Eshoo (CA), Tulsi Gabbard, (HI) and James Sensenbrenner (WI).<\/p>\n

Photo: Central California Congressman David Valadao (R-CA) offers a briefing about his trip to Artsakh and Armenia and his amendment to support demining efforts in the region as part of a panel including ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian and former Fresno County Supervisor Debbie Poochigian<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANCA’s Aram Hamparian Thanks Congressman Valadao at Fresno Gathering FRESNO, CA \u2013 Armenian Americans from across California\u2019s Central Valley gathered Friday evening for a community briefing by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[126,231],"class_list":["post-13952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-anca","tag-anca-central-california"],"yoast_head":"\nValadao Briefs Central Valley Armenian Community on his Trip to Artsakh and De-Mining Appropriation - Armenian National Committee - International\u2014 \u0540\u0561\u0575 \u0534\u0561\u057f\u056b \u053f\u0565\u0576\u057f\u0580\u0578\u0576\u0561\u056f\u0561\u0576 \u053d\u0578\u0580\u0570\u0578\u0582\u0580\u0564<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ancnews.info\/?p=13952\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Valadao Briefs Central Valley Armenian Community on his Trip to Artsakh and De-Mining Appropriation - 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