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PRESS RELEASE
March 8, 2006
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
REP. PALLONE CALLS FOR PARITY IN
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN MILITARY ASSISTANCE
— Speech on House Floor Also Urges Increased
Economic Aid to Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh
“It is incredibly important to… send a
message to Azerbaijan and Turkey that
ethnically charged genocides, illegal blockades
of sovereign nations, and the constant
harassment of the Armenian people will not be
tolerated.” — Rep. Frank Pallone
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Co-Chairman of
the Armenian Issues Caucus, took to the floor of the U.S. House of
Representatives yesterday to criticize the Administration’s “breach
of an agreement struck between the White House and Congress in 2001
to maintain parity in U.S. military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan,”
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
The Bush Administration recommended last month, in its Fiscal Year
2007 budget, that Azerbaijan receive significantly more military
training and hardware than Armenia. The President also proposed
cutting U.S. economic aid to Armenia from last year’s appropriation
of $74.4 million to $50 million, a nearly 33% reduction.
The New Jersey Congressman explained to his House colleagues that,
“a lack of military parity would weaken ongoing peace negotiations
regarding Nagorno Karabakh. Furthermore, I believe that any
imbalance will contribute to further instability in the region if
military parity is not achieved.” He added that, “failing to
respect the parity agreement undermines the role of the U.S. as an
impartial mediator of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.”
Representative Pallone closed his remarks by noting that, “in the
coming weeks I will advocate to the Foreign Operations Subcommittee
to restore military parity, to increase economic assistance to
Armenia, and to provide for humanitarian aid to the people of
Nagorno Karabakh. It is incredibly important to reward our allies
and to send a message to Azerbaijan and Turkey that ethnically
charged genocides, illegal blockades of sovereign nations, and the
constant harassment of the Armenian people will not be tolerated.”
“We want to thank Congressman Pallone for his longstanding
leadership in educating his colleagues about the important U.S.
interests served by our assistance program to Armenia, direct aid
to Nagorno Karabagh, and the other Armenia-related provisions in
the Foreign Operations bill – most recently and notably – the need
for maintaining parity in U.S. military aid to Armenia and
Azerbaijan,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We also
want to express our appreciation to Congressman Knollenberg for his
work, within the Foreign Operations Subcommittee itself, generating
vital support for maintaining military parity and other key
provisions of special concern to the Armenian American community.”
The President’s proposal for Freedom Support Act aid is $50 million
for Armenia, $28 million for Azerbaijan, and $58 million for
Georgia. His Foreign Military Financing proposals are $3.5 million
for Armenia, $4.5 million for Azerbaijan, and $10 million for
Georgia. The White House’s recommendation to Congress for
International Military Education and Training is $790,000 for
Armenia, $885,000 for Azerbaijan, and $1,235,000 for Georgia.
The Foreign Operations Subcommittees of the Senate and House
Appropriation Committees are currently reviewing the President’s
proposed budget and are each drafting their own versions of the FY
2007 foreign assistance bill.
The agreement to maintain parity in U.S. military aid to Armenia
and Azerbaijan was struck between the White House and Congress in
2001, in the wake of Congressional action granting the President
the authority to waive the Section 907 restrictions on aid to
Azerbaijan. The ANCA has vigorously defended this principle,
stressing in correspondence, at senior level meetings, and through
grassroots activism, that a tilt in military spending toward
Azerbaijan would destabilize the region, emboldening the
Azerbaijani leadership to continue their threats to impose a
military solution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. More broadly,
the ANCA has underscored that breaching the parity agreement would
reward the leadership of Azerbaijan for walking away from the
OSCE’s Key West peace talks, the most promising opportunity to
resolve the Nagorno Karabagh conflict in nearly a decade. Finally,
failing to respect the parity agreement undermines the role of the
U.S. as an impartial mediator of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.
The full text of Congressman Pallone’s remarks are provided below.
#####
CONGRESSMAN FRANK PALLONE, JR.
FLOOR STATEMENT
Foreign Operations Request:
March 7, 2006
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, the President’s budget request for fiscal
year 2007 proposes 20 percent more military aid to Azerbaijan than
to Armenia. This request is a clear breach of an agreement struck
between the White House and the Congress in 2001 to maintain parity
in U.S. military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan .
Mr. Speaker, the parity agreement is unfortunately a battle that
the Armenian people have had to fight in the past. The fiscal year
2005 Presidential request was similar in that it called for more
military funding to Azerbaijan .
However, the Congress reversed the President to ensure military
parity in the fiscal year 2005 Foreign Operations Appropriations
Act. After that battle and the President’s 2006 budget request that
included parity , I thought the President’s fiscal year 2007 budget
would continue that policy. But unfortunately that was not the
case. A lack of military parity would, in my opinion, weaken
ongoing peace negotiations regarding Nagorno Karabakh, among other
things.
It will also contribute to further instability in the region,
and it undermines the role of the United States as an impartial
mediator of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Mr. Speaker, the
government should not be rewarding the Government of Azerbaijan for
walking away from the organization for security and cooperation in
Europe’s Key West peace talks, the most promising opportunity to
resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in nearly a decade.
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the administration’s budget also
calls for drastic cuts in economic assistance to Armenia. I was
discouraged to see that the President requested a 33 percent
decrease in economic aid from $74.4 million last year to $50
million this year. Technical and developmental assistance and
investment is essential to Armenia. This funding is key to
democratic stability and economic reform in the country.
Mr. Speaker, is this the message we want to send to our friends
in Armenia? Do we want to cut economic aid to a country that is
terrorized by its neighbors and is shut off on its eastern and
western borders due to an illegal blockade by Turkey and Azerbaijan?
Mr. Speaker, in the coming weeks I will advocate to the Foreign
Operations Subcommittee to restore military parity , to increase
economic assistance to Armenia and to provide for humanitarian aid
to the people of Nagorno Karabakh. It is incredibly important to
reward our allies and to send a message to Azerbaijan and Turkey
that ethnically charged genocides, illegal blockades of sovereign
nations, and the constant harassment of the Armenian people will
not be tolerated.
#####