Press Room

(9/11/08) IRVING, TX – Earlier this summer, ARMENPAC, The Armenian-American Political Action Committee, issued its 2008 Congressional Candidate Questionnaire to educate every candidate seeking election to the United States Congress on Armenian-American issues, and apprise Armenian-American voters of their candidates’ positions for their consideration before Election Day on November 4, 2008.

“ARMENPAC implemented this daunting research project not just to educate the Armenian-American community, but to also educate the candidates on our issues that they will face if elected to Congress,” said ARMENPAC Co-Chairs Annie Totah and Edgar Hagopian. “By beginning dialogues and building relationships with Congressional hopefuls early on, ARMENPAC is cultivating a bipartisan majority in support of Armenian-American issues.”

The 2008 ARMENPAC Congressional Candidate Questionnaire is comprised of questions that succinctly and objectively apprise candidates of the issues affecting the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. The brief survey broadly addresses, and seeks the candidates’ position on, the following topics: United States Reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide, United States - Armenia Trade Relations, Turkish and Azeri Hostility toward Armenia, the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Peace Process, and the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues.

Each candidate received a unique “username” and “password” granting them access to a secure area of the ARMENPAC website so that they can submit their responses to the ARMENPAC Congressional Candidate Questionnaire on-line. Once a candidate responds to the Congressional Candidate Questionnaire, his or her answers are posted in real time in the “Congressional Candidates” section of the ARMENPAC website for all to view and consider before Election Day. The ARMENPAC Board of Directors will issue its list of endorsed candidates before October, 2008 based, in part, on the information collected in response to the Congressional Candidate Questionnaire.

“If your local candidates have not yet responded to the 2008 ARMENPAC Congressional Candidate Questionnaire, please call their campaign office today and request that they do so before September 26, 2008. Their response, or lack of response, is crucial as ARMENPAC strives to identify which candidates are deserving of ARMENPAC’s support and endorsement,” said ARMENPAC Executive Director Jason Capizzi.

Candidates can download additional copies of the 2008 ARMENPAC Congressional Candidate Questionnaire from the ARMENPAC website, and can contact ARMENPAC at (877) 286-1046 to request their unique log-in information.

“By issuing the 2008 Congressional Candidate Questionnaire, ARMENPAC has achieved much success by making 2,069 individual candidates aware of the issues that are most important to the Armenian-American community. We must, however, expand upon that success by contacting our local candidates TODAY to let them know that their responses to this survey are of importance not just too Armenian-American voters, but everyone who desires peace, security and stability in the Caucasus region,” said ARMENPAC Co-Chairs Annie Totah and Edgar Hagopian. “Additionally, we all must make sure that we are registered to vote, and do vote on Election Day, November 4, 2006.”

In addition to viewing the responses to the 2006 Congressional Candidate Questionnaire, visit www.armenpac.org to obtain voter registration information. Posted on the ARMENPAC website are the voter registration forms of all fifty (50) states. To download your state’s form, just click on the name of your state in the “Register to Vote” link, fill out the form, and mail it to the designated agency before your state’s registration deadline. If you do not have internet access, contact ARMENPAC at (877) 286-1046 to have a hard copy of your state’s application form sent to you in the mail. It is imperative to the success of ARMENPAC’s advocacy efforts that every eligible member of the Armenian-American community is registered to vote.