(Los Angeles, California)–On the heels of an announcement that a bipartisan congressional delegation of seven members of the U.S. House of Representatives will be visiting Armenia next week, the ANCA-Western Region welcomed the news as a positive step toward further increasing engagement of the United States in the democratic development of Armenia.

The seven congressmembers represent the House Democracy Partnership whose mission is to work with countries around the world to promote responsive, effective government and strengthen democratic institutions. Armenia is one of 20 countries which have formal partnership agreements with HDP. Other such countries in the region are Georgia, Kosovo, Kyrgystan, Iraq, Lebanon and Ukraine.

Since 2019, the HDP has actively engaged on multiple occasions with Armenia’s National Assembly (Parliament) in peer-to-peer training programs focused on areas such as legislative oversight and accountability, constituent services and citizen engagement as well as technical training and seminars for legislative staff. The partnership agreement between the U.S. Congress and the Armenian National Assembly was formalized in 2020. This will be the second official CODEL to Armenia organized by the House Democracy Project, and it will be led by HDP Chairman David Price (D-NC). Joining him will be Congressmembers Gerald Connolly (D-VA), Jim Cooper (D-TN) , Diana DeGette (D-CO), John Garamendi (D-CA), Andy Levin (D-MI) and Billy Long (R-MO).

“Following last month’s historic delegation to Armenia led by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in which she repeatedly emphasized the importance of Armenia’s security and democracy for the United States, this second congressional delegation in such a short time frame demonstrates a welcome level of engagement. As Armenian Americans, we are gratified that the U.S. government at the highest levels has made Armenia a priority,” remarked ANCA-WR Chair Nora Hovsepian, Esq., “and we will continue to do all we can to ensure that all aspects of the Armenian Cause remain high on the U.S. foreign policy agenda, especially now when Armenia faces an ongoing existential threat from Azerbaijan.”