On October 24, the Rayburn Building of U.S. Congress hosted a reception dedicated to the 26^th anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Armenia and to the 25^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the United States of America. The reception was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia to the United States and the Armenian Caucus of the U.S. Congress, in association with the Armenian Assembly of America and the Armenian National Committee of America.

Among the several participants of the event were 40 U.S. Congressmen, Members of the Staff of the U.S. Congress, ambassadors of foreign countries, representatives of Armenian organizations of the U.S. West Coast and U.S. East Coast, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Bridget Brink, newly appointed U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Andrew Schofer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe Dale Tasharski and Commander of the National Guard of Kansas, Adjutant General Lee Tafanelli.

In his speech, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United States Grigor Hovhannisyan touched upon the major directions of Armenia-U.S. relations and expressed gratitude to the Armenian Caucus for its significant contributions to the bilateral cooperation. Among other speakers were Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Bridget Brink, as well as Congressmen Ed Royce, Tulsi Gabbard, Jackie Speier, Frank Pallone and Brad Sherman.

The event featured performances of Armenian folk and classical music by young musicians having won awards at the New Names of Armenia Festival.