[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 102 (Monday, July 19, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H5823]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     COMMON STATE PROPOSAL BETWEEN NAGORNO KARABAGH AND AZERBAIJAN

  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, I wanted to spend just a short amount of 
time this evening talking about the optimism that many of us are seeing 
as a result of the meeting that took place in Geneva last week between 
President Kocharian of Armenia and President Aliyez of Azerbaijan.
  I am sure that many people know, particularly those of us who have 
been involved with the Armenia Caucus for many years, that we are very 
hopeful that, as a result of this meeting and some other activities 
that have taken place over the last few months, that we could see a 
resolution of the conflict in Nagorno Karabagh, which has been 
basically a bone of contention, if you will, between the two countries 
for some time.
  I think many people know that Nagorno Karabagh is an independent 
republic that is Armenian speaking, ethnically Armenian, that fought a 
war, if you will, about 10 years ago that at the time when the Soviet 
Union broke up, and even though it has been independent and has been a 
state for all practical purposes, for about 10 years it is not 
recognized by the United States and there is a continued conflict, 
albeit mostly peaceful conflict, between Armenia and Azerbaijan over 
the future of Nagorno Karabagh.
  It would certainly behoove anyone who is concerned about peace in the 
Caucasus region to see if these two countries could come to an 
agreement over the future of Nagorno Karabagh that, of course, involves 
the people of Nagorno Karabagh, as well.
  The Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan met last week in Geneva for 
talks that seek a political settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh 
conflict. President Robert Kocharian of Armenia went to Geneva directly 
from Warsaw, where he had been for other business, and while there he 
told the news conference that he was optimistic about the meeting with 
President Aliyev. He said that there had been serious progress since 
active talks have begun with President Aliyev, most recently in April 
during the NATO summit conference when both leaders were here in 
Washington.
  I must say also and give praise to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine 
Albright, who had written to both presidents after those Washington 
talks urging further direct discussions between the two presidents.
  The latest proposal of the OSCE Minsk Group, and the Minsk Group has 
been set forth by the United States and other countries to try to come 
to a settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, basically last fall 
the Minsk Group put forth a proposal called the ``common state 
proposal,'' which essentially sets up a sort of confederation, if you 
will, between Nagorno Karabagh and Azerbaijan where the two countries 
would be part of a confederation or common state with equal status.
  We know that Azerbaijan very quickly after that announcement last 
fall by the Minsk Group rejected the common state proposal. But there 
have been strong indications recently that if it was not for the actual 
label ``common state'' that Baku and Azerbaijan essentially might be 
willing to accept the idea of what the common state proposal is all 
about.
  In other words, they may not like the term ``common state,'' but if 
another term like ``confederation'' or ``free association'' or 
something like that was used that they might be willing to go along 
with it.
  I must say, Mr. Speaker, that what I am hoping and I think the 
atmosphere is ripe for it is that after this meeting of the two 
presidents that it might be possible to engage in some kind of direct 
negotiations between the three parties, between Armenia, Azerbaijan, 
and Nagorno Karabagh, which is something that I and most members of the 
Armenia Caucus have been talking about for some time, that we can see 
the three sides, if you will, get together perhaps at some point nearby 
and simply start negotiations using the common state proposal or 
something like it and ultimately come up with a peaceful settlement.
  I wanted to praise our own House of Representatives and particularly 
the House Committee on Foreign Operations Appropriations because in the 
bill that they reported out of the subcommittee last week and I think 
will be considered by the full committee on appropriations tomorrow 
that bill incorporated several constructive initiatives to help jump 
start the Karabagh peace initiative.

                              {time}  2115

  If I could just give some examples, in the report language for the 
Foreign Ops bill, it specifically says that the primary national 
interest of the United States in the Southern Caucasus is peace, and it 
recommends continued support for the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan, 
and says that the extent and timing of United States assistance should 
depend on whether or not the parties move towards a peaceful 
settlement.
  I want to commend our own Foreign Operations appropriations 
subcommittee for what it did and that this leads in the long run to a 
peaceful settlement of the conflict.

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