Political Quotes

“I rise to reintroduce private relief legislation in the 116th Congress on behalf of Ruben Mkoian and Asmik Karapetian. The Mkoian family has been living in Fresno, California, for over 20 years. I continue to believe this family deserves Congress' special consideration for such an extraordinary form of relief as a private bill. The Mkoian family is originally from Armenia. They decided to leave Armenia for the United States in the early 1990s, following several incidents in which the family experienced harassment, vandalism and threats to their well-being. In Armenia, Ruben worked as a police sergeant on vehicle licensing. At one point, he was offered a bribe to register stolen vehicles, which he refused and reported to his superior, the police chief. He later learned that a co-worker had registered the vehicles at the request of the same chief. After Ruben reported the bribe offer to illegally register vehicles and said he'd call the police, his family store was vandalized and he received threatening phone calls telling him to keep quiet. A bottle of gasoline was thrown into his family's residence, burning it to the ground. In April 1992, several men entered the family store and assaulted Ruben, hospitalizing him for 22 days. Ruben, Asmik, and their son Arthur, who was 3 years old at the time, left Armenia and entered the United States on visitor visas.…”