U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo Shares ANCA’s Enthusiasm about Armenia’s Peaceful, Constitutional Political Transition

Newly sworn-in U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo – in a letter this week to Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Chairman Raffi Hamparian – voiced “enthusiasm” for Armenia’s peaceful, constitutional political transition, affirmed America’s friendship with the Armenian people, pledged to work with Armenia’s new government to advance shared interests.

“We welcome Secretary Pompeo’s enthusiasm for Armenia’s peaceful, constitutional political transition and look forward to working with him and his team to take our bilateral cooperation to a new level,” said ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian. “We are confident that – with our continued advocacy and sufficient will on both sides of the U.S.-Armenia relationship – that we will see progress toward a major Millennium Challenge Corporation compact educating and empowering the next generation of Armenian youth.”

The May 17, 2018, letter from Secretary Pompeo came in response to the ANCA’s call upon the Secretary – in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) – to support expedited consideration of a new $140 million Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) grant for Armenia’s public schools.

“We appreciate your idea of a new MCC compact focused on STEAM education for Armenia,” noted Secretary Pompeo, who went on to voice willingness to assist Armenia with the MCC process, while noting that the Corporation does not have a formal process in place for accelerated consideration of compacts. “We hope to see the Armenian government make progress on MCC’s eligibility criteria (‘scorecard’) this year so that the MCC Board of Directors may consider Armenia for a compact during the annual selection process,” noted Secretary Pompeo.

The ANCA recently held a series of meetings with White House and State Department officials and leading Members of Congress advocating for a STEAM MCC compact for Armenia that would, similar to one being implemented in neighboring Georgia, deliver over $75 million for school infrastructure improvements; $30 million for STEAM education projects; and, over $15 million for vocational educational programs to meet the growing demand for information technology professionals. The MCC grant would likely be apportioned over a 5-year period and would be subject to strict oversight by the MCC to ensure the program is benefiting students across Armenia.