FULL SENATE BLOCKS US SUBSIDY FOR KARS-BAKU RAILWAY
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.10.2006 15:09 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian National Committee of America welcomed
the adoption by the US Senate of legislation protecting US taxpayers
from funding an unnecessary and costly proposed railroad between Turkey
and Georgia that would, if built, circumvent Armenia. The Senate,
during its final day in session before the November 7 mid-term
elections, passed the measure by unanimous consent as part of its
reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. On September 21 the Senate
Banking Committee, during its consideration of the Export-Import
bill, had agreed to add the railway language, offered initially as an
amendment by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), to the larger measure. The
Menendez Amendment was ultimately accepted as a "manager’s amendment"
by Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Ranking Democrat Paul
Sarbanes (D-MD) and unanimously approved by the panel. "Armenian
Americans welcome the Senate’s strong stand against the efforts of
Turkey and Azerbaijan to institutionalize their blockades of Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian,
reports asbarez.com.