U.S. HOUSE FOREIGN AID PANEL PROPOSES $68 MILLION FOR ARMENIA IN 2008
PanARMENIAN.Net
07.06.2007 17:38 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee on
foreign aid voted to allocate $68 million in fiscal year (FY)
2008 assistance to Armenia, a 48.5% increase over the President’s
budget request earlier this year, but less than the $75 million
sought by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). The
State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee also approved $6 million in
direct assistance to Nagorno Karabakh, double the amount allocated
in FY2007. And despite recommendations of ANCA, the subcommittee did
not expand the Nagorno Karabakh aid program from solely humanitarian
to developmental assistance.
As to keeping the military assistance parity between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, the panel voted to allocate $3 million in Foreign Military
Financing assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan and an additional
$300,000 in International Military and Education Training. The foreign
aid bill does not directly set the level of funding for the ongoing
"Caspian Guard Program" in Azerbaijan. The Subcommittee also rejected
efforts by Azerbaijan’s lobbyists to weaken the Section 907 restriction
on U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan, which was put in place more than
15 years ago as a response to Baku’s ongoing blockades of Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh. Economic assistance to Azerbaijan was set at
$18 million.
"We look forward to working with our friends on Capitol Hill, both
in the Senate and during the conference committee process, to bring
Armenia’s aid level at least to last year’s level of $75 million, and
to ensure full funding of our request for $10 million in humanitarian
and development aid to Nagorno Karabakh," ANCA Executive Director
Aram Hamparian said. The full House Appropriations Committee is set
to consider the foreign aid bill next week.