The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is mobilizing on Capitol Hill and in Congressional districts across America to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its genocidal aggression against Artsakh and its ongoing occupation of sovereign Armenian territory – backing a series of amendments to the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA – H.R.8070).
The amendments aim to enact provisions prohibiting U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, preventing the U.S. from granting military export licenses to Azerbaijan, and investigating Azerbaijan’s complicity in sanctions evasion. The amendments also include measures to promote robust U.S. support for Armenia’s sovereignty and security, including ensuring U.S. support for the EU Monitoring Mission in Armenia.
“Having faced no official U.S. consequences for its ethnic cleansing of Artsakh last year, Azerbaijan today poses an existential threat to Armenia’s sovereignty and survival,” remarked ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Congress must step up where successive U.S administrations have failed – by holding Azerbaijan accountable, deterring renewed aggression, and ensuring the safe, sustainable return, under international protection, of Artsakh’s indigenous population to its historic homeland.”
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The ANCA is also backing several amendments related to U.S.-Turkey relations, which would ensure oversight and transparency over U.S. arms sales to Turkey while investigating whether Turkey’s destabilizing behavior across the region is consistent with expectations of a NATO ally.
The ANCA is leading a nationwide grassroots effort — anca.org/ndaa — to encourage Representatives to cosponsor each of the amendments, which are set to be considered by the House Rules Committee as early as the week of June 10th, 2024. The full U.S. House will have the opportunity to vote on amendments that are ruled in order, either separately or as groups of “en bloc” amendments. Amendments with strong bipartisan support are the most likely to be ruled in order.
The ten ANCA-backed pro-accountability amendments to the NDAA are as follows:
— Amendment 396, introduced by Representatives Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ), would temporarily repeal the waiver authority that allows the U.S. to send military assistance and other forms of aid to Azerbaijan while the Azeri government continues to target, abuse, and displace Armenians.
— Amendment 568, introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), calls on Azerbaijan to immediately return all Armenian Prisoners of War and captured civilians.
— Amendment 570, introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), prohibits any new export licenses for offensive security equipment for Azerbaijan.
— Amendment 1048, introduced by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), directs the Defense Department to develop a strategy to strengthen U.S.-Armenia security cooperation and deter further Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia.
— Amendment 1110, introduced by Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), commissions a report on the energy partnerships Azerbaijan has had with Russian and Iranian companies under international sanctions.
— Amendment 120, introduced by Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) & Chris Pappas (D-NH), would require the Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, to submit a report to Congress that includes a report including a review of the impact of sanctions against Turkey for its purchase of the S-400 air defense system from Russia, an assessment of the threat their deployment poses to U.S. national security, and an assessment of the ability of Turkish armed forces to remain interoperable with NATO members.
— Amendment 122, introduced by Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) & Chris Pappas (D-NH), would require the U.S. Government Accountability Office (USGAO) to review and confirm Department of Defense and Department of State contingency plans for the repositioning of sensitive U.S. data and weapons systems that are in Turkey, including nuclear weapons and information related to the F-35 program.
— Amendment 313, introduced by Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), would require a report on whether the Government of Turkey is in material breach of the North Atlantic Treaty.
— Amendment 318, introduced by Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) & Chris Pappas (D-NH), would require a report on Turkish-Iranian cooperation on sanctions evasion.
— Amendment 744, introduced by Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), would prohibit security assistance to any country that has, in the past ten years, used military force against a medical facility, the UN, a refugee camp, aid workers, or journalists, has committed or aided in the commission of the crime of forcible transfer, or impeded the delivery of humanitarian aid.
