Under the sponsorship of the Near East Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division, Frank Pallone Jr., seven-term Democratic congressman from the sixth district of New Jersey, delivered the 11th annual Vardanants Day Armenian Lecture on May 20 at the Library of Congress.
Frank Pallone Jr. - Levon Avdoyan
Speaking on "The United States Congress and Armenia Today," Pallone, founder and present co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, which now numbers 125 members, discussed the reasons behind the establishment of the caucus in 1995 as well as its subsequent activities, successes and future challenges.
Pallone also candidly addressed the chances for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Karabakh, the need for recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the role of the influential Armenian-American diaspora in aiding the newly independent republic, and Armenia's situation given the contemporary geopolitical situation in the Caucasus following the events of 9/11 and the war in Iraq.
Pallone's lecture will be mounted in the near future on the Library of Congress' Web site at www.loc.gov/locvideo/vardanants/. A historical discussion of the Armenian holiday, with a list of the previous Vardanants Day speakers, the text of the 2001 lecture by Harry J. Gilmore, the first U. S. ambassador to Armenia, and the cybercast of former Ambassador to Armenia Michael C. Lemmon's 2002 lecture, are available at www.loc.gov/rr/amed/nes/cty/cai/caivartc.html.
