Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan today received US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy, who was accompanied by US Deputy Ambassador to Armenia Christopher Smith and USAID Armenia Mission Director Deborah Grieser, as reported the news service of the National Assembly of Armenia.

Greeting the guest, Ararat Mirzoyan touched upon the US House of Representatives’ passage of House Resolution 296 recognizing the Armenian Genocide. “I believe this was an extremely major step, perhaps not only or not so much for Armenia as much as for the US and all mankind because we all know that only through recognition and condemnation of such crimes will it be possible to prevent the repetition of such crimes. I hope this process ends in the visible future and we can all turn this page over,” the parliamentary speaker said and also welcomed the 40% increase of US financial assistance to Armenia.

Expressing gratitude for the reception, Lynne Tracy stated that she was very happy for the increase of US financial assistance to Armenia and offered to consider the details about use of the funds.

During the meeting, the parties discussed a broad range of issues related to the US-Armenia partnership agenda and the directions in which the parties will collaborate. They touched upon the fight against corruption, judicial and legal reforms and reforms in the police system, cooperation in legislative reforms, as well as the new programs to be implemented with the US government’s support, particularly in the sectors of tourism, water resource management, IT, agriculture and more.