WE NEED YOUR HELP TO PASS A RESOLUTION ON FYROM
CONTACT THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS TODAY!
ASK THEM TO TAKE ACTION ON FEBRUARY 14
Background on the Issue
The FYROM issue will come to the forefront in 2008, because the United States is advocating for FYROM's inclusion into NATO and the European Union. Greece, a key NATO ally and EU member, will oppose FYROM's membership into NATO unless a mutually agreeable solution is found by the time of the NATO Summit this April. It will become increasingly difficult for Greece to negotiate a mutually acceptable name with FYROM should the latter become a NATO member and eventually an EU member.
On May 1, 2007, Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced H.Res. 356, which urges FYROM to stop utilizing materials that violate provisions of the UN-brokered Interim Agreement between FYROM and Greece regarding "hostile activities or propaganda" and should work with the United Nations and Greece to achieve longstanding US and UN policy goals to find a mutually-acceptable official name for FYROM.Status
Currently, the bill sits with the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs. Rep. Tom Lantos is the chairman of the committee.
Action Needed Today
The bill has not been taken up by the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
AHEPA Supreme President Ike Gulas has requested a meeting with Chairman Lantos on this issue.
Now it is your turn. As American citizens of Hellenic descent, we must have a collective voice.
Contact Representative Lantos through the Committee on Foreign Affairs Today!
Telephone or write to Robert King, who is Rep. Lantos' Staff Director for the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Request that Chairman Lantos bring H.Res.356 up for debate and consideration by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Present the reasons why the Resolution merits debate (see below).
Contact Information
Address
The Honorable Tom Lantos
C/o Robert King, Staff Director
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs
U.S. House of Representatives
2170 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5021
Fax: 202-225-2035
OR
E-mail: Robert King at bob.king@mail.house.gov
Important: Be sure to add your full name and complete address at the bottom of your letter or
e-mail.
Send us a copy of your correspondence or let us know that you called by dropping an e-mail to:
Michael Zachariades, Communications Director, Michael@ahepa.org.
Talking Points that Encourage Passage of the Resolution
- 101 bipartisan members of the House of Representatives have co-sponsored the resolution.
- Of the 101 co-sponsors, 16 are members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
- The co-sponsors include congressional leaders such as:
- The Ranking Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rep. Illeana Ros-Lehtinen
- The Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe, Rep. Robert Wexler
- The Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Europe, Rep. Elton Gallegly
- Greece is a long-standing NATO ally, and as such, Greece has provided troops in Afghanistan and broad-based assistance in the numerous fronts of the War on Terror. In the 20 th century Greece was one of only three countries in the world that allied with the United States in every major international conflict of the century
- As chairman, Lantos has been receptive to issues of concern to the Hellenic American community.
- For example, in 2007, the Committee on Foreign Affairs passed H.Res.405 calling for a resumption of the Cyprus talks under the terms of the July 8 th UN-brokered agreement.
- Also, Rep. Lantos signed a letter requesting additional U.S. financial assistance for the victims of the Greek wildfires and he co-sponsored H.Res.629, a resolution expressing the nation’s sympathies for the victims of the wildfires that passed Congress.
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