State lawmakers wield foreign policy power

Article Launched: 08/07/2005 12:00:00 AM
DailyNews.com
By Lisa Friedman, Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- From the Iraq War to tensions in the Mideast to the extradition of criminals hiding in Mexico, California's influence on U.S. foreign policy is intensifying.

About 25 percent of the U.S. House committee overseeing international affairs hails from the Golden State, leading some aides to jokingly refer to the panel's "California cabal" even as Congress' foreign policy demands increasingly reflect the state's diversity and global economic ties.
[...]
"California members are very active in international relations because the state is an economic powerhouse," said Matthew Reynolds, acting assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, a liaison between Congress and the State Department.
[...]
[...] the panel will vote next month on whether the killing of Armenians in Turkey during the Ottoman Empire should be declared "genocide." That's a direct result of Schiff, whose district is home to many of California's estimated 400,000 Armenians.

Armen Carapetian, spokesman for the Armenian National Committee of America's western region in Glendale, said that for Armenians, having a lawmaker on the International Relations Committee is as important as having one on a bread-and-butter panel like Appropriations.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.