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Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected] www.anca.org
PRESS RELEASE
Friday, August 26, 2005
Contact: Armen Carapetian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR JACKIE SPEIER TO BE HONORED AT 2005 ANCA-WR
ANNUAL BANQUET
-- Armenian American Senator to Receive Woman of the Year Award
LOS ANGELES, CA - The Armenian National Committee of America - Western
Region (ANCA-WR) today announced that California State Senator Jackie
Speier (D-San Mateo) would receive the organization's prestigious
Woman of the Year award at the 2005 ANCA-WR Annual Banquet to be held
on Sunday, September 18th at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los
Angeles.
Sen. Speier is appreciated throughout the Armenian American community
for her steadfast support of legislation and issues that affect
Armenian Americans in the state. Since her time as an Assemblywoman,
Sen. Speier has authored numerous measures of interest to Armenian
Americans among the unprecedented record of over 300 pieces of
legislation that she has been able to have signed into law. Among her
most recent accomplishments, Sen. Speier authored the 2005 Armenian
Genocide resolution in California and along with fellow Armenian
American legislator Sen. Chuck Poochigian (R-Fresno) authored SB 424,
which was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to
permanently designate April 24 as California Day of Remembrance of the
Armenian Genocide. Sen. Speier is the state's highest ranking
Democratic elected official of Armenian descent and the only Armenian
American woman currently serving in the state legislature.
"Senator Speier is known throughout the State Capitol as an effective
legislator, and she has used her skills to bring issues of concern to
Armenian Americans forward," said Steven Dadaian, Chairman of the
ANCA-WR. "The Armenian National Committee is honored to have Senator
accept the Woman of the Year award at our annual banquet this year."
Sen. Speier's career-long commitment to public service was nearly cut
short in 1978 when she traveled to Jonestown, Guyana as an aide to
California Congressman Leo J. Ryan's fact-finding mission that was to
investigate allegations of individuals being held hostage by cult
leader Reverend Jim Jones. On November 18, 1978, at the end of a
two-day investigation, gunmen from the Rev. Jones' People's Temple
cult ambushed, shot and killed Congressman Ryan and four others in his
traveling group. Sen. Speier, then 28 years old, was struck by five
bullets and lay on a jungle airstrip for 22 hours awaiting help. The
day she was shot, over 900 cult members committed mass suicide or were
murdered at the People's Temple compound.
Sen. Speier has stated that "the Jonestown tragedy is a daily reminder
that no one is guaranteed a tomorrow . . . this has absolutely molded
my philosophy and my zest for work and for life." To this day, she
carries two bullets in her body from the tragic incident in Guyana.
Two years after the Jonestown shootings, Sen. Speier became the
youngest member ever to serve on the San Mateo County Board of
Supervisors when she won her first election by defeating a 20-year
incumbent. Sen. Speier served in the California State Assembly from
1986 to 1996 before being elected to the State Senate, where she is
completing her second term and was recently named Assistant President
Pro-Tem. Last year, Sen. Speier visited the ANCA-WR office to discuss
her intention to run for Lieutenant Governor of the State of
California in 2006. She has since been campaigning for the position
throughout the state, garnering the support of key constituencies. If
elected, Sen. Jackie Speier would become only the second Armenian
American to serve in statewide office since Governor George Deukmejian
(1983-1991).
The ANCA-WR Annual Banquet regularly draws over 700 individuals,
including a long list of dignitaries, such as prominent Members of
Congress and state legislators, as well as a vast number of Armenian
American community leaders and political activists. The annual event
is the largest of its kind and helps raise funds to operate the
nation's largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots and
political advocacy organization. More honorees are to be announced in
the coming weeks before the annual banquet.
For more information on this year's ANCA-WR Annual Banquet, or to
reserve a table, call the ANCA-WR office at (818) 500-1918.
The ANCA is the largest and most influential Armenian American
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United
States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA
actively advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a
broad range of issues.
Editor's Note: Photo attached. Photo caption: From left to right -
ANCA-WR Chairman Steven J. Dadaian, Sen. Jackie Speier, and ANCA-WR
board member Raffi Hamparian.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected] www.anca.org
PRESS RELEASE
Friday, August 26, 2005
Contact: Armen Carapetian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR JACKIE SPEIER TO BE HONORED AT 2005 ANCA-WR
ANNUAL BANQUET
-- Armenian American Senator to Receive Woman of the Year Award
LOS ANGELES, CA - The Armenian National Committee of America - Western
Region (ANCA-WR) today announced that California State Senator Jackie
Speier (D-San Mateo) would receive the organization's prestigious
Woman of the Year award at the 2005 ANCA-WR Annual Banquet to be held
on Sunday, September 18th at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los
Angeles.
Sen. Speier is appreciated throughout the Armenian American community
for her steadfast support of legislation and issues that affect
Armenian Americans in the state. Since her time as an Assemblywoman,
Sen. Speier has authored numerous measures of interest to Armenian
Americans among the unprecedented record of over 300 pieces of
legislation that she has been able to have signed into law. Among her
most recent accomplishments, Sen. Speier authored the 2005 Armenian
Genocide resolution in California and along with fellow Armenian
American legislator Sen. Chuck Poochigian (R-Fresno) authored SB 424,
which was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to
permanently designate April 24 as California Day of Remembrance of the
Armenian Genocide. Sen. Speier is the state's highest ranking
Democratic elected official of Armenian descent and the only Armenian
American woman currently serving in the state legislature.
"Senator Speier is known throughout the State Capitol as an effective
legislator, and she has used her skills to bring issues of concern to
Armenian Americans forward," said Steven Dadaian, Chairman of the
ANCA-WR. "The Armenian National Committee is honored to have Senator
accept the Woman of the Year award at our annual banquet this year."
Sen. Speier's career-long commitment to public service was nearly cut
short in 1978 when she traveled to Jonestown, Guyana as an aide to
California Congressman Leo J. Ryan's fact-finding mission that was to
investigate allegations of individuals being held hostage by cult
leader Reverend Jim Jones. On November 18, 1978, at the end of a
two-day investigation, gunmen from the Rev. Jones' People's Temple
cult ambushed, shot and killed Congressman Ryan and four others in his
traveling group. Sen. Speier, then 28 years old, was struck by five
bullets and lay on a jungle airstrip for 22 hours awaiting help. The
day she was shot, over 900 cult members committed mass suicide or were
murdered at the People's Temple compound.
Sen. Speier has stated that "the Jonestown tragedy is a daily reminder
that no one is guaranteed a tomorrow . . . this has absolutely molded
my philosophy and my zest for work and for life." To this day, she
carries two bullets in her body from the tragic incident in Guyana.
Two years after the Jonestown shootings, Sen. Speier became the
youngest member ever to serve on the San Mateo County Board of
Supervisors when she won her first election by defeating a 20-year
incumbent. Sen. Speier served in the California State Assembly from
1986 to 1996 before being elected to the State Senate, where she is
completing her second term and was recently named Assistant President
Pro-Tem. Last year, Sen. Speier visited the ANCA-WR office to discuss
her intention to run for Lieutenant Governor of the State of
California in 2006. She has since been campaigning for the position
throughout the state, garnering the support of key constituencies. If
elected, Sen. Jackie Speier would become only the second Armenian
American to serve in statewide office since Governor George Deukmejian
(1983-1991).
The ANCA-WR Annual Banquet regularly draws over 700 individuals,
including a long list of dignitaries, such as prominent Members of
Congress and state legislators, as well as a vast number of Armenian
American community leaders and political activists. The annual event
is the largest of its kind and helps raise funds to operate the
nation's largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots and
political advocacy organization. More honorees are to be announced in
the coming weeks before the annual banquet.
For more information on this year's ANCA-WR Annual Banquet, or to
reserve a table, call the ANCA-WR office at (818) 500-1918.
The ANCA is the largest and most influential Armenian American
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United
States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA
actively advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a
broad range of issues.
Editor's Note: Photo attached. Photo caption: From left to right -
ANCA-WR Chairman Steven J. Dadaian, Sen. Jackie Speier, and ANCA-WR
board member Raffi Hamparian.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress