[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 17 (Thursday, January 26, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H346-H347]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN ARTSAKH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Sherman) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, for 46 days, the Government of Azerbaijan

[[Page H347]]

has forcibly cut off 120,000 ethnic Armenians in the Republic of 
Artsakh. They are cut off from the outside world. Food has become 
scarce. They have to ration even basic items. Diapers and medicine 
supplies have become so low that Facebook pages are opening where 
residents are trying to find these items from their neighbors. 
Residents are separated from their families on the other side of the 
border in Armenia, including children who have been attending school or 
visiting families.
  Azerbaijan has even gone so far as to cut off natural gas during the 
depth of winter. A humanitarian crisis is brewing, and we should act to 
prevent it.
  Let's be clear about what this attempt is. It is an attempt by 
Azerbaijan to force Artsakh's ethnic Armenian population out of their 
homes by making life in Artsakh impossible. The tactic is blockade. The 
effect is civilian deprivation. The object is ethnic cleansing.
  But don't take my word for it. Listen to Azerbaijani dictator Aliyev 
who made his intentions clear when this blockade unfolded by saying, 
``Whoever does not want to become our citizen . . . can leave.'' What 
does he mean? The ethnic Armenians are citizens. They are citizens of 
the Republic of Artsakh, but Aliyev doesn't recognize that citizenship 
and instead uses it as an excuse to say that he wants to ethnically 
cleanse these 120,000 people.
  I am glad that Secretary Blinken earlier this week called on 
President Aliyev to end this blockade, but we know that dictators don't 
often respond to calls for justice. I urge the administration to put 
real weight behind these calls by making clear that there will be 
consequences to Azerbaijan by plunging the people of Artsakh into this 
humanitarian disaster, including sanctions if necessary.
  The administration should enforce section 907 to stop all military 
assistance to Azerbaijan and to provide critical humanitarian aid to 
the people of Artsakh, actions that are long overdue.
  Ever since I came to Congress almost 27 years ago, I have introduced 
and fought for a resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide, the 
first genocide of the 20th century. Back then it was not uncommon for 
Members of this body to minimize or even deny the systematic 
ethnic cleansing and murder of 1\1/2\ million Armenians, Greeks, or 
Syrians and others by the Ottoman Empire, but Armenian Americans and 
their allies did not give up. For decades, they spoke truth to power 
and turned the political tide until the Armenian genocide was 
recognized by this House and then by President Biden. It may have taken 
longer, but we got there.

  This is a painful moment for the Armenian community. I am confident 
that the Armenian people will rise in strength. Armenians have outlived 
those who said there was no Armenian genocide, and they will outlive 
those who say there is no Artsakh.
  I urge the Biden administration and all Members of this body to take 
a forceful stance against Azerbaijan's shameful attempts at ethnic 
cleansing of the Armenian population of Artsakh through this deadly 
blockade.


                           Debt Limit Crisis

  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, we have already hit the debt limit. 
Republicans say they want to negotiate. We negotiate about spending all 
the time. What they really mean is that they want additional leverage 
by threatening this country with a default on our debt, which would 
cost us, according to Moody's Analytics, 6 million jobs, a 9 percent 
unemployment rate, $15 trillion lost in our investment markets.
  Already they are dillydallying with this debt limit. Their playing 
Russian roulette with our economy has already hurt our economy. As the 
chief Democrat on the Capital Markets Subcommittee, I am here to tell 
you that the cost of capital is higher and projects are not going 
forward because of the actions they have taken so far.
  They want to negotiate? They want to negotiate going backward. They 
want to negotiate reducing Social Security benefits. They want spending 
cuts, but they won't specify what they want. If we are going to 
negotiate, let's negotiate going forward. Let's talk about increases in 
Social Security benefits, let's negotiate getting rid of the $2 
trillion of unjustified Trump tax cuts that went chiefly to 
corporations and the wealthy.
  You want to negotiate? Fine, we will negotiate going forward, but 
ultimately we will end up with a clean debt limit. You can't just love 
your country when your guy is in the White House. You can't play 
Russian roulette just because you don't like the President and you 
think that President will take the political hit. We need to show the 
world that our governance in America is sound and that our economy is 
worthy of investment.

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