Omnibus Bill Maintains military ad parity to Armenia and Azerbaijan,
increases aid to Karabakh

armradio.am
13.03.2009 11:05

2009 Appropriations bill, signed into law by President Obama earlier
this week once again maintained military aid parity between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, and included $48 million in assistance to Armenia and
another $8 million for Nagorno Karabakh, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).

"We would like to thank Chairwoman Lowey, Chairman Leahy, and all the
supporters of Armenian American concerns on their two panels for
reaffirming military aid parity, approving a robust aid package for
Nagorno Karabakh, and doubling the Bush Administration’s patently
insufficient $24 million aid request for Armenia," said Aram Hamparian,
Executive Director of the ANCA. "We look forward, in the coming year,
with a new Administration in the White House, to working with our
Congressional friends to restore U.S. aid to a level commensurate with
actual needs in Armenia, the many challenges she faces in the region,
and the scope of the growing U.S.-Armenia relationship."

The FY09 Armenia appropriation of $48 million is twice the amount
proposed by the Bush Administration, which consistently sought to
reduce U.S. support for Armenia, but still $10 million (17%) less than
the actual FY08 allocation, and $22 million (31%) short of the $70
million proposed by the Armenian Caucus.

The Congress, in rejecting the Bush Administration’s final attempt to
break the military aid parity agreement it reached with Congress in
2001, set Foreign Military Financing levels for both Armenia and
Azerbaijan at $3 million.

The $8 million aid figure for Nagorno Karabakh reflects the U.S.
House’s version of the foreign aid bill, crafted under the leadership
of Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), the Chairwoman of the
Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related
Programs, and represents a historic high-water mark in direct U.S.
support for this program.