By Alexandros Mizan

Mr. Bilirakis was touring Southern California as part of a campaign trip to inform and hear from the local Greek-American community. It was not the first visit by Mr. Bilirakis who has been a vocal supporter of Greek-American issues in the past in the House of Representatives.

It was a beautiful day for the event at the renovated patio of the Capri Laguna Inn Hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The event lasted for most of the afternoon and it was well attended by members of the community. Aside from AHC President and SAE member Mike Galanakis, long-time political activists Eleftheria and Ted Polychronis were at the event. Kathy Tavoularis, an active member of the Republican Party of Orange County who worked on both, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial campaign and on John McCain’s Presidential Campaign and who recently joined the Board of the American Hellenic Council, was there as well.

Deputy District Attorney Nick Dourbetas who is running for Superior Court Judge in Orange County, was also present to support Mr. Bilirakis. Mr. Dourbetas’s election is coming up in June of 2010 and he is currently the only Greek-American running for local office in Orange County.

Attendees came literally from all over the country. Paul Sogotis, an active member of the Greek-American community of Northern California, drove down from San Francisco. Andrea Catsimatidis and Chris Cox of New York, who earlier in the day had given a tour of the Nixon Presidential Library to Mr. Bilirakis, were in attendance as well.

Congressman Bilirakis was introduced to the attendees by a fellow member of Congress and local Congressman Mr. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA46). Both Congressmen spoke of the need for protection of American national security interests at home and abroad.

Mr. Bilirakis, who is also serving in the Veteran Affairs and Homeland Security Committees spoke of his recent visit to Afghanistan and expressed how difficult, yet how critical the American military engagement is in that part of the world. The Congressman also spoke of how US Interests are served by promoting democracy and peace and how important Greece is as an ally to the promotion of those very principles in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Mr. Bilirakis vowed for continued efforts on his behalf in Congress for promoting a peaceful solution for Cyprus by calling for the removal of the occupying Turkish military a reunification of the island. He also referred to his recent visit to Turkey and how he asked for the re-opening of the Halki Seminary in Istanbul from Turkish authorities as part of their commitment to honor religious freedoms.

Later on in the day, the guests at the event had the opportunity to speak extensively with the Congressman on a one-to-one basis and express their opinions. Mr. Bilirakis as always was genuinely friendly and open to discussion about several issues even though he was far away from his electoral base. He extended an open invitation to anyone attending to visit his office on their next visit to the nation’s capital.