Over 65 U.S. House Members Call for $100 Million in U.S. Aid for Artsakh and Armenia

A bipartisan group of over 65 U.S. House members joined in the Congressional Armenian Caucus request for the House Appropriations to allocate over $100 million in U.S. aid to Armenia and Artsakh following Turkey and Azerbaijan’s devastating attacks last year, a key policy priority of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

U.S. Representatives sent a letter to House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Ranking Member Hal Rogers (R-KY), as the panel begins crafting the FY2022 Foreign Aid Bill.In a letter to their Congressional colleagues, Reps. Pallone, Speier, and Schiff wrote: “The below requests for Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh in the Fiscal Year 2022 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs appropriations bill are critical for assisting the country in helping to make its people more secure, bolster its democracy and sustainable economic development, stabilize its civil society, aid its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and, most urgently, alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Artsakh,” which included the following budgetary requests:
— Robust funding to directly aid the Armenian people of Nagorno Karabakh to recover and rebuild, including urgently needed housing, food security, water and sanitation, medical and refugee assistance, rehabilitation, and infrastructure needs.
— $2 million for Conventional Weapons Destruction programs in Nagorno Karabakh.
— $100 million for economic, governance, rule of law, and security assistance to Armenia through State Department and USAID accounts.
— The suspension of all U.S. security assistance for Azerbaijan until it has been verified to have ceased all attacks against Armenia and Artsakh.