[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 45 (Wednesday, April 16, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HUMANITARIAN AID CORRIDOR ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rogan). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, today I received very disappointing news 
from the State Department. The President determined today to permit 
assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control 
Act to the Republic of Turkey. This is in spite of the fact that Turkey 
is maintaining an illegal and downright cruel blockade of the Republic 
of Armenia.
  Mr. Speaker, for the past 2 years, the Foreign Operations 
appropriations legislation has contained a provision known as the 
Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act which prohibits U.S. economic assistance 
to those countries blocking delivery of humanitarian aid to third 
countries. While this provision is not country-specific, it clearly 
applies to Turkey, which for more than 4 years has maintained a 
blockade of neighboring Armenia. While the people of Armenia are 
struggling to build democracy and reform their economy according to 
market principles, the blockade imposed along their border with Turkey 
disrupts the delivery of vitally needed humanitarian supplies.
  The Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, unfortunately, lacks enforcement 
teeth since it grants the President the power to waive the provisions 
on very vague national security grounds. In order to make the Corridor 
Act mean something, last year this body approved an amendment to the 
Foreign Ops bill, sponsored by the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. 
Visclosky], that would limit the Presidential waiver authority to 
provide U.S. economic assistance to countries that violate the 
Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act. More than 300 Members of the House voted 
for this amendment, which would have essentially given the Humanitarian 
Aid Corridor Act some teeth and not allowed the Presidential waiver in 
most cases. Unfortunately, the amendment was stripped in conference and 
the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter] included language instead that 
required the President to provide a justification for determining that 
it is in the national security interests of the United States to 
provide the economic assistance despite the fact that the recipient 
country, in this case Turkey, is in violation of the Corridor Act.
  I want to commend the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter] for 
putting that language in, because we did at least get a semblance of a 
justification from the State Department. But I have to say that the 
justification issue today was not very convincing.

                              {time}  1615

  Mr. Speaker, this action by the administration comes at a 
particularly bad time. Next week marks the 82d anniversary of the 
beginning of the genocide against the Armenian people which was 
perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish Empire. This genocide, which the 
Republic of Turkey has refused to acknowledge, ultimately claimed the 
lives of 1.5 million Armenians. Another 500,000 Armenians were 
deported.
  Many Members of this House will take part with me in a special order 
next Wednesday to commemorate this solemn occasion. To have made this 
determination at this time I think is very inappropriate.
  Mr. Speaker, I bear no ill will to the Turkish people. I am simply 
saying that maintaining good relations should not entail turning a 
blind eye to the outrageous actions committed by the Turkish 
Government. Given the generosity the United States has shown toward 
Turkey it is inappropriate, or I think I should say in this case it is 
appropriate for us to attach conditions, particularly such a basic 
condition as allowing the delivery of aid to a neighbor in need. I 
think most Americans would assume that a condition for U.S. aid should 
be that that country allows other U.S. aid to go through its country or 
its borders to another country that needs the aid. People, I think, in 
this country would be shocked to know that such a provision is not 
already a requirement on the recipients of U.S. assistance.
  I want to say in conclusion that Armenia is a very small landlocked 
nation, dependent on land corridors from neighboring countries for many 
basic goods. Armenia has been one of the most exemplary of the former 
Soviet republics in terms of moving toward a Western-style political 
and economic system.
  I traveled there earlier this year and can report that the blockade 
is having a devastating impact. The Armenian people respect and admire 
the United States. There are more than 1 million Americans of Armenian 
ancestry here. The bonds between our countries are strong and enduring, 
but the people of Armenia face a humanitarian crisis which is not the 
result of any natural disaster, but a deliberate policy of its neighbor 
to choke off access to needed goods from the outside world. We believe 
the exertion of U.S. leadership can play a major role in these 
intentions in promoting greater cooperation among the nations of the 
Caucasus regions, but the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act is an important 
part of this component. If we do not adhere to the Humanitarian Aid 
Corridor Act and if the administration and the State Department 
continue to allow it to be waived, I think in the long run it is going 
to be detrimental to peace and better cooperation between Armenia and 
the other nations of the Caucasus and the United States, and I think 
this is a mistake that the State Department continues to exercise this 
waiver.

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