FRANK PALLONE AND FRANK LOBIONDO URGE CONGRESS TO MAINTAIN U.S. ASSISTANCE TO ARMENIA, INCREASED AID TO NAGORNO KARABAKH
PanARMENIAN.Net
27.10.2009 11:29 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone
and New Jersey Republican Frank LoBiondo were joined by dozens of
their House Colleagues in urging Senate and House Appropriations
Committee leaders to maintain $48 million in U.S. assistance to
Armenia, increased aid to Nagorno Karabakh, and continued military
assistance parity to Armenia and Azerbaijan in the fiscal year (FY)
2010 foreign aid bill, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA).
"We want to thank Congressmen Pallone and LoBiondo for leading
this bipartisan outreach to members of the State-Foreign Operations
Subcommittee – and also to express our appreciation to our friends
serving on this panel, including Nita Lowey, Adam Schiff, Mark Kirk,
Steve Rothman, and Jesse Jackson – for their work in support of the
pro-Armenia provisions in the FY2010 foreign aid bill," said Aram
Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "We are hopeful that the
conference committee, which will be called to reconcile the Senate
and House versions of this legislation, will approve the higher
House figures for aid to Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh, endorse the
House’s decision to maintain military aid parity between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, and support the House language reaffirming Section 907
of the Freedom Support Act."
Earlier this year, both the House and Senate adopted their versions
of the FY 2010 foreign aid bill, with the House adopting higher
figures for Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh and including new language
reaffirming Section 907 restriction on U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan,
due to that country’s ongoing blockade of Armenia.
In an October 26th letter to the Chairs and Ranking Republicans of the
Senate and House foreign aid subcommittees, the House Members cited the
"approximately $680 million loss resulting from the Russia-Georgia
conflict. We are reminded that Armenia provided humanitarian,
diplomatic and economic assistance to Georgia, facilitated the safe
transit for U.S. and international officials, and helped rebuild
damaged Georgian infrastructure."
In expressing its support for $3.45 million in military assistance
to Armenia, the Congressional letter stated: "Armenia’s cooperation
in anti-terrorism efforts and its deployment of forces to both Iraq
and Kosovo are pivotal to U.S. interests. Armenia has entered into a
NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) and has worked closely
with both NATO and the Defense Department on a range of bilateral
and multilateral agreements, joint training programs, and military
exercises."