ANCA Asks Senators to Co-Sign Artsakh Aid Letter

Menendez Letter Calls on Senate Appropriators to Fund Artsakh De-Mining Program and Support Regional Rehabilitation Services

April 14, 2020

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) today rolled out an action alert empowering Americans to quickly and easily call on their U.S. Senators to co-sign an urgent Congressional letter in support of saving the Artsakh aid program – www.anca.org/sign.

The Senate letter – circulated by Sen. Robert Menendez, Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee – calls on the bipartisan leadership of the Appropriations Committee to mandate at least $1.5 million in FY21 assistance for U.S. humanitarian programs in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh). This humanitarian aid program, long under attack by Azerbaijan’s Aliyev regime, has been aggressively targeted by the Trump Administration, even as it ramps up U.S. defense and security aid to Baku.

The letter also asks for robust funding for Nagorno-Karabakh-based regional rehabilitation services for survivors of landmine injuries and individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities.  Among programs that could benefit is the Lady Cox Rehabilitation Center in Stepanakert, which treats 1,000 patients in-house a year, and provides more than 24,000 out-patient treatments. Despite its remarkable progress, the Center still only meets 20% of the needs of the local population, leaving as many as 60,000 regional patients without adequate rehabilitation services.

Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI) and Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have already joined Senator Menendez in co-signing the letter.

“The U.S. aid package to Artsakh represents a small but smart investment in America’s strategic interest in a durable and democratic peace between Artsakh and Azerbaijan,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.  “We thank Senator Menendez for his principled opposition to the Administration’s heartless, senseless, reckless attack on this program, and join with him in encouraging his Senate colleagues to co-sign this urgent appeal.”

In March of this year, more than 75 U.S. Representatives signed a similar letter calling on House appropriators to fund Artsakh aid. Last year, 22 Senators and 89 Representatives cosigned bipartisan letters defending the USAID-funded HALO-Trust de-mining program in Artsakh- an ancient Christian land and proud democratic republic – struggling to survive on the frontiers of faith and freedom.

The text of the Menendez letter is below and available at:
http://anca.org/assets/pdf/041420_Menendez_Karabakh_Demining.pdf

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Text of Letter Circulated by Senator Robert Menendez In Support of Continued U.S. Funding For Artsakh Demining

April XX, 2020

The Honorable Lindsey Graham
Chairman
Subcommittee on State, Foreign
Operations, and Related Programs
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on State, Foreign
Operations, and Related Programs
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Graham and Ranking Member Leahy:

We write to express our support for continued funding for humanitarian projects in Nagorno-Karabakh. The United States has a long history of providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, including USAID’s funding of humanitarian landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance. We ask you to include provisions supporting humanitarian demining and UXO clearance programs and other humanitarian assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh in the FY 2021 appropriations for State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.

USAID-funded humanitarian demining work has cleared almost 500 minefields in Nagorno-Karabakh since 2000, saving untold civilian lives and building goodwill towards the United States. The Subcommittee has previously recognized the necessity of demining work, writing in the FY 2016 and FY 2017 reports that “The Committee recognizes that Nagorno-Karabakh has a per capita landmine accident rate among the highest in the world, and that mine clearance programs have been effective where implemented.” However, mines continue to threaten civilians in the region. Mines have killed 12 people since 2017 and the past year alone has seen 12 near-miss scenarios.

We acknowledge that the Administration wants to focus on the peace process, and we share their desire to see progress on that front. However, we also understand that the Administration intends on ceasing its humanitarian clearance work at a time when landmines still threaten civilians. Anger and resentment from landmine accidents reduce the population’s desire to see peace, so the threat of un-cleared landmines and UXO undermines other programs aimed at supporting the peace process. Beyond that threat to peace, humanitarian demining and UXO clearance programs, as well as other humanitarian programs that assist civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh, build goodwill towards the United States that could make American programming to prepare populations for peace more effective.

To gain a better understanding of how much demining and UXO clearance remains to be done, we recommend that funding be appropriated for an independent assessment of remaining contamination from mines and UXO in Nagorno-Karabakh as well as the risk that contamination poses to civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh. The independent assessment should be either an independent review of an existing survey that has received U.S. funding and is currently ongoing, or a new independent survey; the implementing agency would decide which option best suits the circumstances. This independent assessment will help the Subcommittee and the Administration determine what levels of funding are appropriate for future years. This funding should be appropriated in addition to funding for FY 2021 mine clearance, as there are identified minefields that can be cleared while the assessment is ongoing.

To continue saving civilian lives, build goodwill towards the United States, and better understand the extent of remaining mine and UXO contamination in Nagorno-Karabakh, we ask that all three of the following provisions be included in the FY 2021 appropriations for State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs:

·       Of the funds appropriated by this Act, not less than $1.5 million shall be made available to fund demining and landmine risk education programs in Nagorno-Karabakh.

·       Robust funding for Nagorno-Karabakh-based regional rehabilitation services for survivors of landmine injuries and individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities.

·       Funding for an independent assessment of remaining contamination from mines and unexploded ordnance in Nagorno-Karabakh and the risk that contamination poses to civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh. The independent assessment shall be either an independent review of an ongoing contamination survey or a new independent survey. The appropriate congressional committees shall receive regular updates on the assessment’s progress and the assessment results once completed.

Thank you for your consideration of these requests and for your work to support America’s long tradition of humanitarian assistance.

Sincerely,

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