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Berman And Sherman Battle For Armenian Vote At ANCA-WR Debate

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  • Berman And Sherman Battle For Armenian Vote At ANCA-WR Debate

    BERMAN AND SHERMAN BATTLE FOR ARMENIAN VOTE AT ANCA-WR DEBATE

    ARMENPRESS
    2 October, 2012
    YEREVAN

    YEREVAN, OCTOBER 2, ARMENPRESS: At a debate organized by the Armenian
    National Committee of America - Western Region (ANCA-WR), Congressman
    Howard Berman and Congressman Brad Sherman battled each other for the
    Armenian-American vote in the San Fernando Valley. With the occasional
    fireworks, the congressmen held little back as they vied for the
    crucial swing vote a little over a month before Election Day on
    November 6. As Armenpress reports citing ANCA WR, over three-hundred
    community members, many of them undecided voters, packed Avedissian
    Hall at Ferrahian Armenian School in Encino, California, on Saturday
    evening to hear the positions and proposals of the two well-respected
    congressmen pitted against each other in the most closely watched
    congressional race in the United States. The energetic debate,
    which became heated a number of times as the congressmen rebutted
    and refuted each other's arguments, evinced the highly emotional,
    and oft-contentious, atmosphere of the race. The debate featured as
    moderator Zanku Armenian, a columnist with the Glendale News-Press
    and public relations executive and, as panelists, Harut Sassounian,
    publisher of the California Courier newspaper and well-known
    columnist, and Ara Khachatourian, editor of Asbarez English and the
    immensely popular Asbarez Post and Asbarez.com. Numerous topics
    were broached by the panelists including student fee increases
    in the California university system, recognition of the Armenian
    Genocide and Genocide-era insurance claims, appropriation of aid to
    Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and its use, the extradition of convicted
    axe-murderer Ramil Safarov by the government of Hungary to Azerbaijan,
    trade agreements between the United States and Armenia, and the
    condition of Armenians in Javakhk in the Republic of Georgia and aid
    to that region. Written questions were also taken from the audience.

    Both candidates stressed the importance of leadership in realizing
    any of the issues discussed, regularly citing their own history of
    leadership over the years. While Sherman highlighted his lead in
    recent polls and his local-level endorsements, Berman pointed to his
    seniority and long list of endorsements from Members of Congress. Both
    referenced their strong relationship with the ANCA and recognized
    its leading role in bring Armenian-American issues to the fore in
    Washington and locally. Although there was expected disagreement
    about who was better for the job and about approach, the congressmen
    generally agreed about the importance of the issues presented by the
    panelists and the need to have them addressed by the U.S. Congress.

    Nora Hovsepian, co-chair of the ANCA-WR, aptly noted in her opening
    remarks the role the Armenian-American community is slated to
    play as a "swing vote" in the close race between the two incumbent
    congressmen. "It is hard to overestimate the importance of this race
    to our community and, in turn, the importance of our community to
    this race," said Hovsepian. "The participation of the congressmen, the
    outpouring of interest from our community, and the presence of national
    and local media were testament to the significance of both this race
    and to ensuring that every voter is educated about the candidates
    and gets out to vote on Election Day - that's why we organized this
    debate and that's why we initiated the Hye Votes project."

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