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PRESS RELEASE
June 29, 2006
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
SENATE AID PANEL VOTES SHARP CUT IN AID TO ARMENIA
— Proposes $5 Million for Nagorno Karabagh;
Allocates Equal Amounts of Foreign Military
Financing to Armenia and Azerbaijan
WASHINGTON, DC – In a departure from its traditional support for a
robust U.S. assistance package for Armenia, the Senate
Appropriations Committee today voted to dramatically reduce aid to
Armenia, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA).
Early reports from Capitol Hill indicate that the Senate
Appropriations Committee has approved a $50 million economic aid
package for Armenia as part of its fiscal year 2007 aid bill. This
allocation was broken down into $34.2 million for Freedom Support
Act aid, $9.96 million for the Democracy Fund, and $5.8 million for
the Child Survival Health Programs Fund. An additional $1.8
million was allocated for Peace Corps programs in Armenia. The
panel’s proposal is $25 million less than the actual allocations
for Armenia over the past several years.
In a positive development, the Senate panel approved $5 million for
humanitarian and relief assistance for Nagorno Karabagh, a $2
million increase over the fiscal year 2006 allocation of $3
million. The panel also voted to recommend equal amounts of U.S.
Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to Armenia and Azerbaijan, with
each appropriated $3.5 million. The panel did not clarify,
however, whether they intended this parity to extend to the
International Military Education and Training (IMET) and
Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related Programs
(NDAR) funds.
"We are troubled by the retreat of Senate appropriators from their
long-standing commitment to the U.S. aid program for Armenia and
Nagorno Karabagh – all the more so given Armenia’s impressive
domestic progress, robust and expanding bilateral relations with
the United States, peacekeeping support in Iraq and Kosovo,
cooperation in settling the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, and on other
pressing regional and security concerns," said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. "We look forward to working with
appropriators in both houses of Congress to restore aid to at least
last year’s level."
The Senate Appropriations Committee’s decision stands in contrast
to the House vote earlier this month, which allocated $62 million
in U.S. economic aid for Armenia. Over the course of the past
decade, the Senate has consistently proposed higher levels of aid
for Armenia than the House.
The full Senate is expected to vote on the fiscal year 2007 foreign
aid bill following its return from the July 4th Congressional
recess, after which House and Senate appropriators will hold a
conference to work out differences between their two bills.
In March of this year, the Millennium Challenge Corporation – a
newly established, performance-based foreign aid program – approved
a five-year, $235 million assistance package to build roads and
irrigation systems in Armenia’s rural regions.