HOUSE COMMITTEE OPPOSES FUNDING FOR RAILROAD THAT BYPASSES ARMENIA: LAWMAKERS CALL PROJECT "PURELY POLITICAL"

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jun 15 2006

WASHINGTON, JUNE 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Armenian
Assembly of America commended Members of the House Financial Services
Committee for adhering to U.S. policy goals of regional cooperation
and economic integration by ensuring that no Export-Import funding
would be used for a proposed rail link project that would connect
Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, while bypassing Armenia.

Lawmakers approved on June 14 H.R. 5068, the Export-Import Bank
Reauthorization Act of 2006, which included an amendment introduced
by Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY), along with Congressmen Edward
Royce (R-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), ensuring that taxpayer dollars
will not be spent on efforts that would exclude Armenia from regional
projects and commercial opportunities.

Unanimous approval of this amendment by the House Financial Services
Committee sends a strong message that it does not endorse attempts to
undermine U.S. policy goals, which seeks to normalize Armenian-Turkish
relations and to reach a peaceful settlement in the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. Moreover, the Committee’s action echoes recent statements
made by Ambassador-Designate to Azerbaijan, Anne Derse, who indicated
that the proposed railroad would "not be beneficial to regional
integration…"

"With this amendment, we are sending a message to the governments
of Turkey and Azerbaijan that continually excluding Armenia in
regional projects fosters instability," Crowley told Members of the
Committee. "Bypassing Armenia is just another attempt to further
suffocate this republic, which has made great strides in democratic
and economic reforms notwithstanding its neighbors’ hostility. If the
Caucasus region is to move forward, we must ensure that all countries
move forward together at the same time."

During the mark-up, Royce noted that the amendment was modeled after
H.R. 3361, the South Caucasus Integration and Open Railroads Act,
and said that taxpayer dollars should not be used to exclude Armenia
which is already facing dual blockades by Turkey and Azerbaijan. The
legislation, which also has a Senate counterpart, would prohibit
U.S. assistance for the promotion or development of a railroad that
would connect the three countries and exclude Armenia.

The House bill currently has 85 cosponsors.

Sherman, who also addressed the Committee, said that the European
Union has already publicly indicated that it will not finance a rail
project in which Armenia is not involved.

"Export-Import made a huge mistake when it approved finance guarantees
for the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline in 2003," Sherman told the Assembly. "This
amendment puts Congress on record opposing a repeat of that fiasco
embodied by this ill-conceived and wasteful rail project."

"Our foreign assistance should help end conflict by fostering
cooperation," Sherman continued. "We should not entrench divisions
by financing projects which exclude countries friendly to the United
States."

Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) also spoke in favor of the
Crowley-Royce-Sherman amendment and submitted a statement for the
mark-up, which stated in part: "Armenia is a friend and an ally of
the United States that for too long has been subjected to blockades
and aggression from its neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan….Allowing
the exclusion of Armenia from important transportation routes would
stymie the emergence of this region as an important East-West trade
corridor. It is in our economic and security interests to ensure that
the aggression against Armenia comes to an end."

"We thank Congressman Crowley, along with Congressmen Royce and
Sherman, for their leadership on this crucial issue which is a
key Assembly priority for the 109th Congress. We also commend the
Armenian-American community for rallying support for this important
initiative," said Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. "Passage of this
amendment protects U.S. goals and interests in the region and ensures
that attempts by Turkey and Azerbaijan to isolate Armenia will not
go unanswered."

The proposed railway is estimated to cost upwards of 0 million.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told an Azeri news agency last
summer that, "We are currently working on a new project – a new rail
road Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku..If we succeed with this project,
the Armenians will end in complete isolation, which would create an
additional problem for their future, their already bleak future…"

Armenian government officials have repeatedly said that a new costly
railway is unnecessary given that a railroad linking Armenia, Georgia
and Turkey already exists.

The next step in the legislative process is a vote in the full House
on H.R. 5068.