DON’T BYPASS ARMENIA

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[02:26 pm] 13 December, 2006

Legislation containing a provision enforcing a long-sought ban on
U.S. financing of a proposed railroad that would bypass Armenia,
having been approved in its final form by both the House and Senate,
was sent to the President yesterday for his signature into law,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

"Armenian Americans look forward to the President’s signing into
law the principled stand of the United States against Turkey and
Azerbaijan’s efforts to institutionalize their illegal blockades
of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh," said ANCA Executive Director Aram
Hamparian.

The Senate voted by unanimous consent on December 6th in favor of
a reconciled version of the Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Bill
(S.3938). The House had approved this version on December 1st. Both
the House and Senate measures were based on the South Caucasus
Integration and Open Railroads Act of 2006 (S. 2461 / H.R. 3361),
introduced in the Senate by Rick Santorum (R-PA) and in the House by
Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), the Co-Chairman of the Armenian Caucus.

The proposed new Caucasus rail line – at the urging of Turkey and
Azerbaijan – would circumvent Armenia.

Promoters of the project have sought, even at the planning stages, to
secure U.S. financing for this undertaking, prompting Congressional
friends of Armenia to preemptively block such attempts. In October
of 2005, the European Commission voiced official opposition to the
proposed Caucasus railroad bypass of Armenia. A formal statement by
the Commission’s Directorate General for Transport and Energy noted
that its construction was both unnecessary and inefficient in light
of the existing railroad connecting Kars, Gyumri, and Tbilisi.

On March 8th of this year, responding to a question on the railroad
bypass from Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) during a hearing of the
International Relations Committee, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel
Fried asserted that, "The proposed railway would bypass Armenia and
thus not be beneficial to regional integration. We have no plans
to support such a railway financially. The Administration has not
allocated or expended any federal agency funds or otherwise provided
financial support for the intended project."