Day: April 17, 2024
SACRAMENTO—The California Armenian Legislative Caucus Foundation announced that new members Assemblymember Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz) and Assemblymember Tri Ta (R-Westminster) have joined the group.
“I had the privilege of observing elections in Artsakh twice, and I am devastated by the Azerbaijani offensive that took over the territory in 2023. During my time in Artsakh and Armenia, I gained an admiration for the Armenian people. I am proud to be a member of the California Armenian Legislative Caucus Foundation and continue to highlight the strength of the Armenian people,” said Pellerin.
“I am so honored to stand with my colleagues across California as a member of the Armenian Legislative Caucus Foundation. California has been enriched by the contributions of Armenian Americans and I look forward to representing them in Sacramento through this caucus. Armenia and California have a shared history promoting freedom and human rights, issues that are very close to me as an immigrant myself,” said Ta
The California Armenian Legislative Caucus Foundation includes, senators Bob Archuleta, Brian Dahle, María Elena Durazo, Anthony Portantino, Susan Rubio, Scott Wilk; and Assemblymembers Lisa Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Megan Dahle, Mike Fong, Vince Fong, Laura Friedman, Jesse Gabriel, Mike Gipson, Eloise Gómez Reyes, Chris Holden, Tom Lackey, Gail Pellerin, Cottie Petrie-Norris, Luz Rivas, Blanca Rubio, Miguel Santiago, Tri Ta, Jim Wood, Rick Chavez Zbur, and Adrin Nazarian (Ret.).
The California Armenian Legislative Caucus serves as a forum for members from the California Senate and Assembly to identify key issues affecting Armenian Americans and develop and empower the Armenian American community throughout California. The Caucus encourages advocacy and participation in cultural, educational, governmental, and community efforts in California. Through advocacy, the Caucus strives to ensure that California Armenian American’s voices are heard and given a platform.
Commenting on the ongoing protest rallies in Tbilisi against the so-called Foreign Agents’ law and on his message to Georgian people, the U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on April 17 that the U.S. “remains deeply concerned that this draft legislation if enacted could stigmatize civil society organizations working to improve the lives of Georgian citizens and media organizations operating within Georgia to provide information to Georgian citizens.”
He added: “We think that civil society, journalism, media organizations are cornerstone to any democratic society, and we urge the Georgian government to heed warnings that this bill is not in line with European Union’s norms and values, and it would certainly negatively impact Georgia’s progress on its EU path.” He further added that the U.S. “will continue to urge and reiterate with the Georgian government” this “dire concern” with this legislation.
Patel was also asked to comment on the amendments to the tax code, which were fast-tracked through Parliament on 17 April, and which would make it easier to transfer assets from tax havens from abroad and, as a journalist noted in asking the question, would “clearly” be used to “avoid sanctions”. Patel however, declined to comment on the issue, saying he was “not familiar with this other piece of legislation” but would check it.
Also Read:
- 17/04/2024 – Borrell, Várhelyi: Adoption of “Foreign Agents Law” Would Negatively Impact Georgia’s EU Path
- 17/04/2024- International Reactions to Reintroduction of Draft Law on Foreign Agents
- 16/04/2024 – Charles Michel: Foreign Agents Law “Not Consistent with Georgia’s EU Aspiration”
- 12/04/2024 – International Reactions to Reintroduction of Draft Law on Foreign Agents
Commenting on the ongoing protest rallies in Tbilisi against the so-called Foreign Agents’ law and on his message to Georgian people, the U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on April 17 that the U.S. “remains deeply concerned that this draft legislation if enacted could stigmatize civil society organizations working to improve the lives of Georgian citizens and media organizations operating within Georgia to provide information to Georgian citizens.”
He added: “We think that civil society, journalism, media organizations are cornerstone to any democratic society, and we urge the Georgian government to heed warnings that this bill is not in line with European Union’s norms and values, and it would certainly negatively impact Georgia’s progress on its EU path.” He further added that the U.S. “will continue to urge and reiterate with the Georgian government” this “dire concern” with this legislation.
Patel was also asked to comment on the amendments to the tax code, which were fast-tracked through Parliament on 17 April, and which would make it easier to transfer assets from tax havens from abroad and, as a journalist noted in asking the question, would “clearly” be used to “avoid sanctions”. Patel however, declined to comment on the issue, saying he was “not familiar with this other piece of legislation” but would check it.
Also Read:
- 17/04/2024 – Borrell, Várhelyi: Adoption of “Foreign Agents Law” Would Negatively Impact Georgia’s EU Path
- 17/04/2024- International Reactions to Reintroduction of Draft Law on Foreign Agents
- 16/04/2024 – Charles Michel: Foreign Agents Law “Not Consistent with Georgia’s EU Aspiration”
- 12/04/2024 – International Reactions to Reintroduction of Draft Law on Foreign Agents
UCLA recognizes Armenian Genocide with week of public events – Public Radio of Armenia Public Radio of Armenia – Official Web site