AHEPA e-News! - Vol. 12 Issue 41 - Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Congressional Hellenic Caucus Co-Chair Gus Bilirakis Provides Policy Update Executive Director Basil N. Mossaidis recently caught up with U.S. Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis, co-chair, Congressional Hellenic Caucus, to review the latest developments with Congress, including the policy priorities of the American Hellenic community.  watch the interview AHEPA Mourns Passing of Socrates Awardee, Life Member Alex G. Spanos AHEPA mourns the passing of Alex G. Spanos, a 73-year Life Member of Chapter 212, Stockton, California, announced Supreme President George E. Loucas. In 1997, Brother Spanos received the AHEPA Socrates Award, the highest honor the Order can bestow, for his career achievements and boundless philanthropy. In 1985, he received the AHEPA Distinguished Service Award.   "Brother Spanos exemplified the American Dream and represented the Hellenic ideal of the pursuit of excellence," Loucas said. "Our sympathies and prayers are with the Spanos family. May his memory be eternal."  read Spanos family statement U.S. Ambassador-designate to Cyprus Nomination Hearing U.S. Ambassador-designate to the Republic of Cyprus Judith Gail Garber provided testimony to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations at her nomination hearing held Oct. 4. During the hearing, Ambassador-designate Garber faced questioning from Committee Ranking Member Sen. Robert Menendez and Senators Chris Murphy and Tim Kaine (coverage from GreekNews). Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, presided over the hearing. read Ambassador-designate Garber's prepared testimony   watch video Congressional Hellenic Caucus Membership is 126.   Help It Grow.    Although Congress is heading into the homestretch of the 115th Congress, there is still time to increase the membership of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues. AHEPA asks for your help, especially as U.S. representatives are back in their districts until after the midterm November elections. The Hellenic Caucus has been an active, bipartisan group in Congress since its founding in 1995.  It is co-chaired by U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and its co-founder, Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).   Membership in the Hellenic Caucus stands at 126.   Is your U.S. representative a member?  Click here to find out. Download & Share: Action Alert to help you outreach to your U.S. representative  Don't forget to follow AHEPA on social media:

Upcoming Events & Deadlines October - November 19-21 | Sons of Pericles Greeks in Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio 26 | Deadline for The Ahepan winter issue 29 - 3 |  2018 AHEPA National Golf Invitational, Frisco, Texas Join AHEPA Today! In Our Own Words. What AHEPA means to us. Join AHEPA Now Greek American News Digest   Editor's Note: Editorials, Commentaries, and Opinion pieces are shared for information purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy positions of the Order of AHEPA, its affiliated organizations, and members.       Return of Varosha would be a game changer Cyprus Mail (Oct. 7) The return of the closed off town of Varosha to its rightful owners could be a game changer and facilitate settlement talks but also build actual trust between the two communities, President Nicos Anastasiades has said.  He was addressing the annual anti-occupation event of the Famagusta municipality in Dherynia that took place on Saturday evening.  read more    Garber's confirmation hearing has proven it's still hard for the State Department to acknowledge there was a Turkish invasion in Cyprus Greek News (Oct. 7)   Ranking member of Senate's Foreign Relations Committee Robert Menendez pushed hard U.S. Ambassador designate to Cyprus Judith Gail Garber to acknowledge whether there was an invasion to Cyprus and Turkey should withdraw its troops.  read more  Migrants seeking winter shelter overwhelm northern Greece Associated Press (Oct. 8) Several hundred asylum-seekers camped outside a police station Monday in northern Greece, lining up to be arrested and formally processed as a surge in illegal migration overwhelmed authorities in the region.  read more   Greek-American Author Jeffrey Eugenides in Athens National Herald  (Oct. 8) Greek-American Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides participated in a discussion with author Kallia Papadaki, and journalist and book critic Mikela Chartoulari, at the Greek National Opera's Alternative Stage, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) on September 27. Eugenides' visit to Athens was part of the Athens 2018 World Book Capital events organized by the Municipality of Athens, with the major support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.  read more    Maria Menounos says 'I do' again in Greece Page Six (Oct. 6) Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro have tied the knot for the second time.  The former television host, 40, who told Page Six this week that she was heading to Greece for a traditional wedding celebration 10 months after getting hitched in New York, took to Instagram to explain why it was so special.  read more    College Students Launch App to Combat Higher Education Costs Pappas Post (Oct. 7) For many students at American universities, the costs of higher education have become increasingly burdensome with expensive price tags for housing, tuition, meal plans and so on.  Prices have soared so much that more and more students scarcely have any money left to put toward textbooks, which inspired two college alumni from the College of New Jersey (TCONJ) to take to the App Store and create a solution.  read more