[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 84 (Wednesday, June 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H5273-H5274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                FOREIGN OPERATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives will soon be 
addressing the foreign operations appropriations bill for fiscal year 
1999. Shortly after the July 4 recess members of the Subcommittee on 
Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs will begin 
marking up this legislation, which determines to a major degree 
American engagement in a changing world.
  I would like to take this opportunity to address an area where I 
believe American policies, assistance, and investment can make a 
critical difference in promoting our values of democracy, human rights, 
and free markets. That is, support for the Republics of Armenia and 
Nagorno Karabagh.
  Mr. Speaker, I served as co-chairman with the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Porter) of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues. Our Caucus 
has 64 members from both sides of the aisle, and I visited Armenia and 
Nagorno Karabagh, and can tell Members that the need for help is still 
great, and the potential of Armenia to be a long-term friend and 
partner of the United States is also great.
  The Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related 
deserves praise for many important provisions in the fiscal year 1998 
foreign ops bill. That legislation provided for the first time direct 
U.S. humanitarian assistance to the people of Nagorno Karabagh. It also 
established a discretionary spending fund to restore infrastructure and 
promote regional integration in the Caucasus.
  As in previous years, the legislation also earmarked direct aid to 
the Republic of Armenia. It maintained the section 907 ban on direct 
aid to Azerbaijan, albeit with some very big exemptions, until that 
country lifts its blockade of Armenia and Nagorno

[[Page H5274]]

Karabagh. In order to build on the progress made last year, I hope my 
colleagues who serve on the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export 
Financing, and Related Programs will consider the following proposals.
  First, I urge an earmark of not less than $100 million to Armenia to 
promote economic development, trade, and increase U.S. investment. 
Because Armenia is largely cut off from the west due to the Turkish and 
Azerbaijani blockades, U.S. assistance has played a vital role in 
helping this small landlocked Nation to survive. Despite the hardships 
caused by the blockades, Armenia has registered strong economic growth, 
with the private sector accounting for a large and growing share of 
GDP.
  Furthermore, aid to Armenia is strictly monitored and effectively 
implemented. Earlier this year Armenia's voters had successful 
presidential elections, further proof of the impressive development of 
a multi-party democracy.
  I also urge the subcommittee to build upon its historic achievement 
in the fiscal year 1998 bill to earmark assistance to Nagorno Karabagh 
at $20 million. This mountainous Republic is indeed a functioning 
society, a fact attested to by members of the USAID team that visited 
Karabagh to conduct a needs assessment pursuant to the fiscal year 1998 
bill.
  Unfortunately, our State Department has apparently interpreted the 
provision of aid to the victims of the Karabagh conflict, contrary to 
the intent of the subcommittee, as referring also to expanding existing 
funds for Azerbaijan's needs.
  I would urge the subcommittee to build on the fine precedent it 
established last year by increasing the earmark for Nagorno Karabagh, 
specifying that the funds are targeted for use within Nagorno Karabagh 
and further broadening the scope of assistance to Karabagh to include 
the reconstruction of infrastructure damaged during the war.

                              {time}  2030

  I also believe we must maintain, without any exemptions, Section 907 
of the Freedom Support Act, which became law in 1992. We must not allow 
any weakening or other ways of getting around the requirements of 
Section 907.
  In addition, I believe we should require the administration to report 
to Congress on what steps it is taking to ensure Azerbaijan's 
compliance with the conditions of Section 907.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, in keeping with this goal of attaching tough 
but fair conditions to the provision of U.S. aid, we should retain the 
Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act. This act became law in 1996, and I 
believe, as most Americans, that countries that block the delivery of 
U.S. humanitarian assistance to other countries should not themselves 
receive assistance from the United States.
  While the Corridor Act provision does not single out any countries, 
it would clearly affect the Republic of Turkey, which has imposed a 
blockade on Armenia since April of 1993. Given Turkey's failure to 
abide by the requirements of the Corridor Act, I urge the subcommittee 
consider tightening the provisions by removing or at least strictly 
limiting the current broad discretion of the Presidential waiver.

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