final version of the bill. The Senate must approve its version of the
bill, and then a joint Senate-House committee will piece together the
final version.
In Glendale, Carapetian and others began circulating their
petitions, hoping enough support could persuade the Republicans to
back off. They collected 1,500 in the Glendale area. Through the
Armenian National Committee's website, another 10,000 people signed
online petitions, which were faxed directly to the offices of
Hastert, DeLay and Blunt.
"The House leadership and the president, unfortunately, don't see
this as an important issue," said Carapetian, the government
relations director for the Armenian National Committee's Western
Region. "They are willing to disrespect over a million of their own
citizens and residents of this country for the sake of relations with
a country that is really not a true ally of the U.S.
"We've been getting a lot of phone calls. We've gathered hopefully
hundreds of signatures here. The public outcry has been focused on
the congressional leaders."
