Whittier Student Learns Inner Workings of

Congressional Office During Assembly Internship

Washington, DC- An interest in learning more about Washington politics brought Whittier, California resident Alexandra Kazarian to the nation¹s capital to serve as an intern in the office of Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (D-CA) during the Armenian Assembly¹s Summer Internship Program. The program, in it's 24th year, hostsArmenian-American college-aged students for an eight-week session in Washington, DC.

"While working in Congresswoman Napolitano's office, I learned first-hand about the day-to-day workings of the federal government," Kazarian said. "This internship provided me a real opportunity to be right in the middle of the lawmaking process."

Kazarian's responsibilities in the congressional office included drafting constituent letters and reporting on Caucus and Committee meetings. Congresswoman Napolitano is a member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues as well as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Small Businesses Committee, and the International Relations Committee.

"I learned so much during the past eight weeks in Washington," she said. "Dealing with issues ranging from small business legislation to human cloning and from energy to the Nagorno Kazabagh peace negotiations, gave me a new appreciation for the work done by Congresswoman Napolitano and other members of Congress."

Although this was her first time in DC, growing up in a political family gave Kazarian a glimpse of the workings of the government starting at a young age. Her father Dennis Kazarian has always been active in the political scene, serving as Chief of Staff to Congressman Danielson, (D-CA) from 1974 to 1982 and most recently to the California State Senator Charles M Calderon (D) from 1991 to 1998. Mr. Kazarian also served as the Executive Director of the United Armenian Fund from 1990 to 1991. Her mother, Jasmine, is a Language Arts teacher as Vail High School in Montebello.

Kazarian plans on attending law school after her graduation from California State University, Fullerton.

The Assembly's Internship Program combines summer employment with a full schedule of educational activities including meetings with Members of Congress, policy makers, noted academicians, and media personalities in order to learn about US-Armenia relations and developments in Armenia.