Senate Foreign Relations Committee
In Wake of New GAO Report, SFRC Chairman Menendez Calls for Increased
Oversight of U.S. Assistance to Azerbaijan
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the below statement
following the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) publication of
a new report that found that the State Department failed to comply
with reporting requirements for reviewing U.S. assistance to the
Government of Azerbaijan.
Senator Menendez requested the report in June 2020 to review U.S.
assistance to Azerbaijan and specifically whether any assistance had
been used for offensive purposes against Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh.
For years, the U.S. has continued to make exceptions to bypass a 1992
law banning most U.S. military assistance to the Government of
Azerbaijan. Using a waiver under Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support
Act, the exemption requires the State Department to certify the
purposes of the assistance and report on the impact of that assistance
to Congress.
The new GAO report found that over several years, the Department of
State and Department of Defense failed to meet statutory reporting
requirements to Congress on the impact of U.S. assistance on the
military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“The human consequences of the terrible war in Nagorno-Karabakh
underscore the deep concerns that I have long had about providing U.S.
assistance to Azerbaijan,” Chairman Menendez said. “This report finds
that, for several years, the State Department consistently failed to
provide sufficient details about the quantity of assistance to
Azerbaijan, the status of the military balance, and the impact of the
assistance on peace negotiations. These findings are further proof
that the status quo is unacceptable, and we must exercise additional
scrutiny over the U.S. government’s ongoing provision of assistance to
Azerbaijan. In the coming weeks, I will be renewing my efforts for the
State Department to reconsider any future planned assistance to
Azerbaijan, respect Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, and
improve its reporting to Congress in the future.”
Three months after Senator Menendez requested the report, Azerbaijan
launched an egregious attack on Nagorno-Karabakh that led to the
deaths of 6,500 people. Today, Armenians continue to grapple with the
human costs of that war on a daily basis. Baku continues to hold
scores of Armenian prisoners of war in their jails—an open wound for
their families who are unsure of their relatives’ fate or condition.
The war has uprooted nearly 100,000 ethnic Armenians who lost their
homes and livelihoods.
Specifically, the GAO found that:
    State’s reporting to Congress from FY 2014-FY 2021 did not address
required elements, including the impact on proposed assistance on the
military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
    State’s Memorandums of Justification contained limited or no
details regarding quantity of assistance, status of the military
balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the impact of U.S. assistance
on the military balance, or the impact of the assistance on peace
negotiations.
    State’s 2021 guidance did not provide detailed instructions to
agencies about reporting requirements to Congress.
    State and DOD did not document their consideration of waiver
requirements from FY 2014-FY 2020, including how they determined
assistance would not be used for offensive purposes against Armenia.