American Armenians Storm the Capitol

PanARMENIAN.Net - The name of Republican Howard Kalugyan is well known in the American society. The 46 year old lawyer lives in San-Diego, South California. During 1994-2000 he was a Congress member of the state of California. In 2004 he announced his candidacy to the Senate, but having more experienced rivals, he lost the pre-elections. Though his first attempt to enter the Capitol was not crowned with success, the 11% of votes which he gained can be considered a success because the election results convinced party leaders that Kalugyan's potential should be used in the course of next elections. This time Kalugyan has decided to go to the lower chamber. Howard Kalugyan is an active figure in the Republican part. He was one of the few Armenian politicians who actively worked in George Bush's electoral staff. (The majority of our compatriots supported Bush's rival John Kerry). Kalugyan enjoys the support of Arnold Schwarzenegger and has been one of the most active participants of the campaign against previous Californian governor: in 2003 Kalugyan formed and took the leadership of "Against Gray Davis" committee.

Among Kalugyan's deeds there are also thosе of shady nature. Yet in 2001 he announced himself an adherent of toughness towards Sadam Hussein, winning а notorious "hawk's reputation. He was one of the initiators of noisy actions in support of war against Iraq. After the war started he established and became the leader of radical conservative ("Move Forward America") organization which was aimed at popularizing Americanism. The organization attracted a lot of attention by actions demanding Kofi Annan's resignation. "Kofi Annan is a friend of terrorists and dictators", Howard Kalugyan once said. "Let alone the fact that UN is a place where thieves, sexual maniacs and marauders work, they also hinder America's fight against terrorism. We have hospitably bore UN for 60 years. It is time for them to relocate in another country. Let them cry on us from there if they can", said Kalugyan speaking at the meeting of protest against UN attempts to resist Washington's policy. "You are tired of UN's anti-Americanism? Join us!" This is the text of "Move Forward America" organization's TV advertisement.

Together with all of that Howard Kalugyan is also actively involved in "Armenian politics". Though being an American in third generation, he has a good command of Armenian and US Armenians call him "our guy". Kalugyan has initiated a number of pro-Armenian resolutions in the US Congress. It is noteworthy that being an activist of Armenian National Committee he maintains excellent relations with the Armenian Assembly of America. (It is an unusual phenomenon, taking into account the tense relations between the two lobby structures). In 1998 Howard Kalugyan visited Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh where he met with Presidents Kocharyan and Ghukasyan. During his visit he was accompanied by Congressman James Rogan whose trip to Stepanakert made him more pro-Armenian.

Kalugyan has good chances for success. San-Diego district is traditionally considered patrimony of Republicans. During the past decades democrats have never managed to achieve success. Maybe this is why here there are seven republican and only two democrat candidates. Thus, there can be nearly no doubt that Kalugyan will win if only he is selected as a candidate of republicans. So, the most important thing is to win in pre-elections to be held on April 11. As for the final fight between candidates from the two parties, it will take place on June 6. If Kalugyan wins, he will become the 3rd Armenian Congressman in the history of USA.