Washington, D.C. – The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) welcomed today’s introduction of bipartisan legislation spearheaded by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), along with Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI), for the Armenian Protection Act, which repeals the waiver authority to Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act.
Section 907 states that U.S. funds “may not be provided to the Government of Azerbaijan until the President determines and so reports to the Congress, that the Government of Azerbaijan is taking demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.” In the aftermath of September 11, a conditional waiver was added to exempt Azerbaijan from Section 907 if certain criteria were met and certified by the Administration.
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The introduction of this Act comes as the Senate adopted by voice vote S.3000, also known as the Armenian Protection Act, led by Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). Senator Peters, who traveled to Armenia in September of 2023, emphasized his support for the Armenian people during the Assembly’s Fall 2023 Advocacy Summit, where he stated that he would encourage more of his colleagues in the Senate “to support the Armenian people” and for “repercussions” to take place against Azerbaijan’s Aliyev regime.
“We applaud Rep. Lawler, along with his colleagues Reps. Pallone, Bilirakis, and Amo for this bipartisan measure,” said Assembly Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan. “Azerbaijan should be sanctioned, not rewarded, for its genocidal policies against the Armenian people,” Khaloyan added.