[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 16, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H6877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   MAINTAIN CONDITIONS OF UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO AZERBAIJAN IN 
                              CURRENT FORM

  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 come to the House floor this evening to 
urge this Congress to maintain section 907 of the Freedom Support Act 
in its current form and oppose efforts to repeal this important 
provision of law.
  Section 907 places reasonable conditions of U.S. assistance to the 
Government of Azerbaijan until Azerbaijan has shown that it has taken 
demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of 
force against Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh.
  Mr. Speaker, I am concerned that the administration is using the 
tragedies of September 11 and our Nation's war against terrorism as a 
way to convince Members of Congress of the need to waive these 
sanctions. Yesterday, members of the Committee on Appropriations and 
the Committee on International Relations in both the House and the 
Senate received a letter from Secretary of State Colin Powell 
requesting ``assistance in passing legislation that would provide a 
national security interest waiver from the restrictions of section 
907.'' Secretary Powell continued by stating, ``Removal of these 
restrictions will allow the United States to provide necessary military 
assistance that will enable Azerbaijan to counter terrorist 
organizations and elements operating within its borders. This type of 
assistance is a critical element of the United States fight against 
global terrorism.''
  Well, Mr. Speaker, this letter is unfortunate; and although I am not 
surprised, because the State Department has always opposed section 907, 
but it is particularly troubling to think that Secretary Powell would 
want to provide military assistance to Azerbaijan, a nation which has a 
history of aggression and blockades against Armenia and which continues 
to this day to make threats of renewed aggression against Nagorno 
Karabagh under the cover of the international war on terrorism.
  Let me give some recent examples of these threats. Azerbaijani 
Defense Minister, Colonel General Abiev, was cited recently by Radio 
Free Europe/Radio Liberty Caucasus Report as an advocate of renewed 
aggression against Nagorno Karabagh.
  Radio Free Europe has also reported that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister 
Quliev has said that if Azerbaijan decides to liberate Karabagh from 
terrorists, then the international community would have no right to 
condemn that move as aggression.
  Azerbaijani Parliamentarian IgbalAgazadeh said that the time has come 
to start hostilities on the liberation of Azeri territories occupied by 
Armenia, a direct reference to a new war against Nagorno Karabagh.
  Clearly, Mr. Speaker, Azerbaijan does not share our understanding of 
this war on terrorism. The senior Azerbaijani leaders are telling us 
very plainly that they intend to use all of the means at their 
disposal, including apparently any and all military aid that we provide 
them in their antiterrorist war against the Armenian people.

                              {time}  2015

  Taking any steps to weaken, waive, or repeal Section 907 will give 
Azerbaijan the green light and the means to renew its aggression 
against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh.
  In his letter, Mr. Speaker, Secretary Powell says Section 907 must be 
repealed so the Azerbaijani government can fight terrorist 
organizations in its own country. What the Secretary does not say is 
that there are credible reports that the Azerbaijani government invited 
bin Laden and his network into its country.
  Given this information, the United States Government should carefully 
review its relationship with Azerbaijan and not reward it with repeal 
of Section 907. At a minimum, I believe U.S. interests are best served 
by insisting Azerbaijan arrest and turn over those involved in the al-
Qaeda cells operating there with the government's approval since the 
early to mid-1990s. These cells threaten all of us in the United 
States, but Armenia in particular is on the front line of this battle.
  To date Azerbaijan has done nothing to warrant repeal of Section 907, 
including continuing its war rhetoric, rejecting U.S.-European calls 
for cooperation with Armenia, rejecting specific proposals by Armenia 
for economic and regional cooperation, and backing away from the 
commitments made by Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliyev during peace 
negotiations this year in Paris and in Key West earlier in year.
  Given the ongoing sensitive peace negotiations, efforts to weaken or 
repeal Section 907 only serve to legitimize Azerbaijan's immoral 
blockade and would make its position at the negotiating table even more 
intransigent.
  Moreover, repeal of Section 907 is no way to reward Armenia's 
solidarity with America's campaign against international terrorism. 
Armenia's early response to the World Trade Center attack was to first 
assist American staff at our U.S. Embassy in Armenia's capital to 
ensure the Embassy's security.
  Armenia's President, speaking on behalf of the Collective Security 
Treaty of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States, called 
for joint action against international terrorism. Armenia currently 
holds the rotating presidency in this six-member defense grouping. 
Armenia has also offered and the U.S. has already used Armenia's 
airspace. In addition, Armenia has offered intelligence-sharing and 
other unspecified offers of support.
  There is no reason to repeal Section 907, and it would be a big 
mistake at this time, Mr. Speaker. Now more than ever the Congress has 
to uphold the fundamental and enduring U.S. principles of justice, 
democracy, and human rights.

                          ____________________