The Armenian Bar Association has urged Congress to reprimand U.S. Representative Randy Fine and demanded an apology from Fine for racist remarks he made on May 2, 2026, when he stated that “we don’t want Armenians to be able to serve in Congress.”
Fine made the comments as part of an attack against his primary challenger, Dan Bilzerian, also derogatorily referring to him as a “little Armenian.” The Armenian Bar Association said such rhetoric is antithetical to the core American principles of equality and representative democracy.
Statements that single out an entire ethnic community for exclusion from public service are unacceptable. Directed at specific communities, they invoke a painful history that Armenian Americans and many others have worked tirelessly to overcome. From discriminatory housing covenants to exclusionary business practices and racial slurs, Armenian Americans have faced barriers that sought to deny them full participation in American life. Those barriers were not only challenged through legal advocacy, but dismantled through generations of civic engagement, military service, and enduring contributions to the nation.
Armenian Americans have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the United States across every generation. They have served with distinction in every major American conflict, from World War I to World War II and every war since. Armenian Americans have not only served, but led by example, earning the nation’s highest military decoration, as in Medal of Honor recipient Ernest Dervishian, and rising to the highest ranks of military command, including retired four-star General Jeffrey Harrigian, who served as Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Africa, and NATO Allied Air Command into the 2020s.
Beyond military service, Armenian Americans have helped shape all aspects of American public life. Their contributions span public service, science, medicine, the arts, and innovation, from historical figures including pioneering surgeon Dr. Varazdat Kazandjian, inventor of the MRI Raymond Damadian, Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Saroyan, and philanthropist George Mardikian, to entrepreneur Noubar Afeyan, whose work helped enable the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. These individuals represent only a small fraction of the thousands who have contributed, often quietly, but always meaningfully, to the advancement of this nation.
As former Pasadena Mayor William Paparian, a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, Captain Judge Advocate with the California State Guard, and a founding member of the Armenian Bar Association, stated: “Armenian Americans have earned their place in every corner of American life through sacrifice, service, and an unshakable belief in this country’s ideals. To suggest otherwise is not only historically ignorant, it is an affront to the very fabric of our democracy.”
Fine’s comments reflect his long record of disdain for Armenian-American interests. He has repeatedly supported the transfer of weapons to Azerbaijan, despite its recent genocidal actions against the Armenian community in Artsakh, where it forcibly displaced the entire Armenian population and continues to deliberately destroy Armenian churches, religious artifacts, and historical monuments in a broad campaign of erasure.
Congress has censured or reprimanded members of Congress for racist and hateful remarks on several occasions, including Paul Gosar in 2021 and Steve King in 2021. Racist remarks such as Rep. Fine’s cause tremendous harm to the 1.5 million Armenian-American community and degrade democratic institutions.
The Armenian Bar Association urged Congress to reprimand Fine and demanded that he issue an immediate and unequivocal apology. More broadly, the association urged all public officials to reject rhetoric that divides Americans along ethnic lines and instead reaffirm their commitment to equal opportunity and merit-based participation in public service.
The strength of the United States lies in its diversity and in its enduring promise that all citizens, regardless of heritage, are welcome in the nation’s offices of public service and leadership. That promise must be protected, not undermined.
