Summer is officially over and I know this not because the weather has turned, or the leaves are changing colors (who are we kidding here? I live in California we don't have seasons) I can tell because I can easily find parking again in my neighborhood on any given day at any given time. During the day, there are less beach goers hogging spots and at night there are less loud inebriated people walking back to their cars from the bars.
As things settle down and people fall back into their daily routine things are stirring here for the Armenian community. E-mails are being sent out to friends, family, neighbors and co-workers asking them to contact their Congressional representatives to urge them to vote for House Res. 106. Sometimes I wonder if everyone I know is taking the two minutes to look up their rep and call, email or send a webfax. It only takes a few minutes if you haven't already taken the time to do so please do it now! http://capwiz.com/anca/callalert/index.tt?alertid=10340906&type=TA
It's even more important for those of us who don't live in districts where there are a lot of active Armenians. In 1999 while I was in Washington DC participating in the ANCA Leo Sarkissian Internship a meeting was set up for Aram Hamparian and I to go meet with my Congressman. Needless to say the meeting ended up being with one of his staffers instead. This staffer was a young man barely out of college (if that) yet, it was his job to advise the congressman on issues relating to the Caucuses region. I remember vividly how this young lad sat across from us, crossed his legs, leaned back in his seat and asked me to remind him where Armenia was, what countries it borders and what ocean it is located near! I couldn't believe his ignorance on the issue, nor that he hadn't even taken two minutes to prepare for the meeting so he would at least know that Armenia is a landlocked country!
My most recent call to my Congressional representative's office was no different. A staffer answered the phone, didn't know what H. Res. 106 was about so I had to tell him, he put me on hold for a minute or so, probably twiddled his thumbs for a bit then came back on the line and gave me some vague response about how the Congressman was still "looking into it" because he's been receiving a lot of calls about this one BINGO!!!!! That my friends is the power of GRASSROOTS EFFORTS!!! So stop reading this and GO CALL YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REP!
As things settle down and people fall back into their daily routine things are stirring here for the Armenian community. E-mails are being sent out to friends, family, neighbors and co-workers asking them to contact their Congressional representatives to urge them to vote for House Res. 106. Sometimes I wonder if everyone I know is taking the two minutes to look up their rep and call, email or send a webfax. It only takes a few minutes if you haven't already taken the time to do so please do it now! http://capwiz.com/anca/callalert/index.tt?alertid=10340906&type=TA
It's even more important for those of us who don't live in districts where there are a lot of active Armenians. In 1999 while I was in Washington DC participating in the ANCA Leo Sarkissian Internship a meeting was set up for Aram Hamparian and I to go meet with my Congressman. Needless to say the meeting ended up being with one of his staffers instead. This staffer was a young man barely out of college (if that) yet, it was his job to advise the congressman on issues relating to the Caucuses region. I remember vividly how this young lad sat across from us, crossed his legs, leaned back in his seat and asked me to remind him where Armenia was, what countries it borders and what ocean it is located near! I couldn't believe his ignorance on the issue, nor that he hadn't even taken two minutes to prepare for the meeting so he would at least know that Armenia is a landlocked country!
My most recent call to my Congressional representative's office was no different. A staffer answered the phone, didn't know what H. Res. 106 was about so I had to tell him, he put me on hold for a minute or so, probably twiddled his thumbs for a bit then came back on the line and gave me some vague response about how the Congressman was still "looking into it" because he's been receiving a lot of calls about this one BINGO!!!!! That my friends is the power of GRASSROOTS EFFORTS!!! So stop reading this and GO CALL YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REP!
posted by LORI at 8:34 PM
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