U.S. House votes to block military financing, training aid to AzerbaijanJuly 29, 2021 - 10:40 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, July 28 voted overwhelmingly to restrict U.S. foreign military financing and training assistance to Azerbaijan, passing a bipartisan amendment led by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and twenty of his House colleagues, the Armenian National Committee of America reported. The vote sends a powerful signal to Azerbaijan’s dictatorial Aliyev regime that their ongoing aggression against Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) will not be rewarded with U.S. taxpayer-funded military assistance, ANCA said. The Pallone Amendment states, “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act [H.R.4373] under ‘International Military Education and Training’ and ‘Foreign Military Financing Program’ may be made available for Azerbaijan.” The provision does not block discretionary military equipment, which may be transferred by the Department of Defense under U.S. laws Section 333. The ANCA is working with Senate and House Members of the Armed Services Committee to address those concerns by strengthening Section 907 restrictions on U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan. The House vote on the Pallone amendment was included in a bi-partisan series of amendments voted “en bloc,” and overwhelmingly adopted. The House was supposed to vote on the broader Fiscal Year 2022 Foreign Aid Bill (H.R.4373) later Wednesday night. That broader bill is accompanied by a report which calls for not less than $50 million in U.S. assistance to Armenia, “for economic development, private sector productivity, energy independence, democracy and the rule of law, and other purposes.” It urges not less than $2 million for demining activities in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). The recommendation for U.S. assistance to Armenia is over twice that requested by President Biden in his FY2022 proposed budget, which remains silent on U.S. assistance to Artsakh. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. Baku: EU, U.S. share responsibility for Armenia’s “destabilizing actions” Azerbaijan has declared that the European Union and the United States will share responsibility for any destabilizing actions of Armenia Armenia to sing in 2nd semi-final of Eurovision The organizers of Eurovision 2024 have revealed the running order of the countries in the two semi-finals. |