On 21 June, the Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Jackie Speier secured strong bipartisan support  of the U.S. House for the adoption of her amendment appropriating 40 million US Dollar in aid for fostering democracy in Armenia, reported news.am. The amendment was co-sponsored by Frank Pallone and Adam Schiff and was adopted by a vote of 268 to 152. The House voted on Rep. Speier’s amendment as part of its consideration of the Fiscal Year 2020 foreign aid bill.

Congress’s approval of this measure sends a strong signal to Armenians that the United States recognizes their inspiring democratic progress, supports their quest to build a more accountable government, and will continue to work with them to build resilient, responsive institutions,” said Speier.

Frank Pallone, founding Co-Chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, introduced the bipartisan resolution on 20 June welcoming Armenia’s 2018 peaceful political transition, praising the U.S.-Armenia “strategic partnership,” and calling for upgraded bilateral cooperation on political, economic, military, and development challenges.

“Over the past year, Armenia has been transformed through the organic, grassroots movement that led to the nonviolent ‘Velvet Revolution’ and free and open national elections in December. These momentous events are a testament to the Armenian people’s commitment to democracy and show why it is so important for the United States to elevate our engagement with the Pashinyan government. Armenia is at a critical moment where US support can help foster the growth of pro-democratic and civil society institutions. I am hopeful that this resolution is the beginning of a broad-based strategic upgrade of the US-Armenia partnership based upon our shared interests and common values”, Pallone said.

The adopted amendment received a high praise by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). ANCA is the largest and most influential Armenian political grassroots organization in the US. Its main goals are the fostering of public awareness in the US in support of a free, united and independent Armenia; influencing and guiding US policy on matters of interest to the Armenian-American community; and representing the collective Armenian-American viewpoint on matters of public policy, while serving as liaison between the community and their elected officials.