SENTAORS SANTORIUM, MENENDEZ INTRODUCE BILL TO BLOCK US FUNDING FOR PROPOSED CAUCASUS RAILWAY PROJECT

Yerkir
30.03.2006 13:15

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and newly appointed
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced legislation this week that
would prohibit U.S. assistance for the building of railroads traversing
the Caucasus that circumvent Armenia, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).

The legislation mirrors a similar House measure (H.R. 3361) titled
the “South Caucasus Integration and Open Railroads Act of 2005”,
introduced by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg
(R-MI) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) in June, 2005. The House version of
the legislation currently has 77 cosponsors.

“We welcome this effort to protect U.S. taxpayers from subsidizing an
ill-advised and over-priced railroad project that – at the insistence
of Turkey and Azerbaijan – has been specifically designed to exclude
Armenia,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA.

In his speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Menendez noted the Turkish
government’s ongoing campaign to “isolate Armenia economically,
politically and socially,” citing Turkey’s 13-year blockade of Armenia
and, more recently, the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline, which also circumvents Armenia.

“U.S. policy in the South Caucasus seeks to.

In October 2005, the European Commission added its voice to the growing
international opposition to a Caucasus railroad. The Commission’s
position was articulated by the Directorate General for Transport and
Energy. In explaining why the European Union would not support the
creation of this rail line, the Directorate noted that its construction
was both unnecessary and inefficient in light of the existing railroad
connecting Kars, Gyumri, and Tbilisi.