Adam Schiff thanks Armenian-American community for wonderful support over the years and asks for it again this year

Representative Adam Schiff is the leader in Congress of the effort to recognize the Armenian Genocide. He is the author of H. Res. 252, the Armenian Genocide Resolution, and has worked tirelessly and creatively to build support for recognition in the House. Schiff understands the need to confront Turkish denial at every turn and has begun an Armenian Genocide history project, in which family stories are entered into the Congressional Record to preserve them.

Representative Schiff is also a champion for modern Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. As a member of the Foreign Operations and Related Programs subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, he has fought for greater funding for Armenia and Karabakh, as well as tightening of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which conditions security assistance to Azerbaijan. Schiff is greatly concerned by continued Azeri war rhetoric as well as Azeri acts of agression along the Line of Contact that have resulted in the deaths of Karabakh military personnel. Recently, Schiff has worked with the Congressional Research Service to identify funding shortfalls to Nagorno Karabakh for badly needed economic development. Schiff is following up on this issue with the State Department and USAID and will work to ensure that Karabakh receives the assistance that Congress intends

The Armenian-American community is an important part of the wonderful mosaic of our community, our state and our nation. By voting and getting involved in the political process Armenian-Americans can ensure that government, at all levels, pays heed to your concerns. On a personal level, the support that Representative Schiff gets from the Armenian-American community is extremely important to him and he is grateful for it. He works hard each day to earn that support and he will continue to do so.

Neither Republicans nor Democrats constitute a majority party. The bloc of voters in the middle, the independents, provide the votes that elect the Members of the House and the Senators that give one party or the other control. Independents also control the outcome of presidential elections and most statewide and local races for the same reason. Congressman Schiff has worked hard to earn the support of independents, and the vast majority (if not all) of the independent elected officials in the district who have made an endorsement, have endorsed Congressman Schiff for re-election. Indeed, the Congressman's fiscal conservatism and bipartisan work in Congressman have resulted in more Republican local elected officials crossing party lines and endorsing him than his Republican opponent.

There is a great deal of involvement from the community in the campaign. The local Armenian-American community is incredibly savvy; there is a vibrant Armenian-American press and the community is increasingly aware of its clout in California and a handful of other states. Some of the community are understandably disappointed that more progress has not been made on the genocide recognition issue, but Congressman Schiff is committed to continuing the fight for recognition and needs the Armenian-American community's help by showing its strength at the ballot box on Tuesday.

Congressman Schiff feels good about the campaign, but he is taking nothing for granted. These are challenging times for our nation and he knows that too many Americans are hurting badly. He is committed to working day and night to help get this country back on its feet economically - by providing incentives to small business, making America a leader in green technology and using a federal / state partnership to rebuild California's infrastructure in ten years, instead of thirty. He thanks the Armenian-American community for its wonderful support over the years and asks for it again this year.