America's global alliances and the support we give and receive from other countries is one of our greatest strengths. This district is made up of a diverse population spanning multiple religions, cultures, and countries of origins; people who immigrated to this country for many different reasons. While we may have different roots, we are all proud Americans.

I understand what it means to come from a country that depends on American partnership for its survival. I I also understand what it means to represent a community where families carry the memory of genocide. America's alliances are not abstractions. They are commitments that determine whether people live in freedom or in fear.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas carried out the deadliest attack on Jewish civilians since the Holocaust, murdering and kidnapping civilians. With the assistance of American efforts, Israel was able to secure the return of all hostages kidnapped for over two years. The beginning of 2026 witnessed thousands of Iranians massacred for protesting against the Islamic Regime that has terrorized their country for nearly 50 years. The operation that eliminated the murderous dictator was the result of shared intelligence and coordinated action through American alliances. Iran's future remains uncertain. But the alliance that made that moment possible must be preserved and strengthened, not treated as a political bargaining chip.

And Iran is not the only place where the world failed to act in time. In September 2023, Azerbaijan drove more than 100,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, the homeland known as Artsakh, after a nine-month starvation blockade. International investigators documented ethnic cleansing, extrajudicial killings, and the systematic destruction of Armenian cultural sites. The former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned of genocide. The world issued statements. And 100,000 people lost everything.

This district understands that pain. Los Angeles County is home to the largest Armenian population outside Armenia. The Armenian Genocide of 1915, which killed 1.5 million people, was not formally recognized by Congress until 2019. Recognition without action is just a monument to failure.

Here is my position.

The US-Israel alliance is a strategic cornerstone. It must be defended regardless of which party holds power. Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons, and the Iranian people's right to determine their own future must be supported. Armenian security must be a priority of American foreign policy, with real accountability for the crimes in Artsakh. And our broader alliance network, NATO, our partnerships in the Pacific, our democratic allies worldwide, must be reinforced, because these relationships are force multipliers that no amount of unilateral action can replace.