Washington, DC — Vice-President Al Gore’s official announcement earlier today naming Connecticut Senator
Joseph Lieberman as his vice-presidential running-mate, only a week after Texas Governor George W. Bush’s
pick of former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney as the Republican vice-presidential candidate, provides Armenian
American voters with important insights into the types of priorities and foreign policy approaches of the two
candidates should they win the presidency this November.

Both Cheney and Lieberman have records on a number of Armenian American issues, ranging from the Armenian
Genocide to Nagorno Karabagh to the Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan. Both have cast votes
on these issues and spoken out – often forcefully – on U.S. policy toward Armenia, the Caucasus, and the
Caspian region.

“The vice-presidential selections by both George W. Bush and Al Gore raise a number of questions about how
they intend to direct our nation’s foreign policy on issues of immediate and vital importance to Armenian
Americans,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “To make an informed choice on election day,
Armenian American voters will need answers to these questions * answers that the candidates can provide by
completing the ANCA Presidential Questionnaire, located at www.anca.org.”

The Democratic Candidate: Joseph Lieberman
Two-term Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman has, over the past decade, cast three critical votes on the
Senate floor against the Armenian American community, even as he has frequently spoken out in support of
issues of concern to Armenian American voters. The first vote, less than two years after being elected in 1988,
was against Senator Bob Dole’s Armenian Genocide resolution (S.J.212). In February of that year, he voted to
kill this measure despite the Connecticut Armenian community’s extensive efforts to educate him on the
Armenian Genocide and Lieberman’s own insistence that American foreign policy be founded on moral
principles.

Subsequently, however, in 1992, 1994, 1995, and 1996, he joined his colleagues on the Senate floor in honoring
the victims of the Armenian Genocide, describing the event as one the 20th century’s “greatest tragedies: the
death of over 1.5 million Armenians and their exile from their homeland.” In his 1996 comments, he spoke
against efforts to deny the Genocide and explained the importance of yearly Congressional observances:

“We mark this date in history because it is so important that we remember. We must remember
the Armenian Genocide and other abuses of state authority against ethnic minorities. We must
remember all of the victims of crimes against humanity. Our memory, our vigilance, is essential
to ensuring that these acts do not happen again, to Armenians or any other group.”

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ANCA Press Release: The 2000 Vice-Presidential Candidates. . . page 2 of 2

Lieberman was an early and vocal supporter of the Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan. In
speeches in the 1990s, the Senator was vocal in his support for the newly independent Republic of Armenia, and
his opposition to Azerbaijani attacks against Nagorno Karabagh. He initiated and co-signed several letters to
President George Bush, Secretary of State James Baker and later Secretary of State Warren Christopher
condemning Azerbaijani aggression, supporting restrictions on U.S. relations with Azerbaijan, and expressing
concern about the Turkish blockade of Armenia. In a statement on the Senate floor on July 24, 1990, Sen.
Lieberman advocated the reunification of Nagorno Karabagh with Armenia, stating:

“What can America do to help Armenia? First, we should impress upon Soviet officials that it is
vital that the blockade of Nagorno Karabagh be lifted indefinitely. We should urge that
Nagorno-Karabagh should be eventually returned to the Armenian Republic. Until their eventual
reunification, we should insist that the physical barriers be removed to enable Armenia and
Karabagh to cooperate economically and culturally.”

In a sharp break from the positive rhetorical record he established following his 1990 vote against the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide, Lieberman cast his second critical vote against the Armenian American community in
1995 when he voted against an amendment introduced by Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY) to reduce U.S.
assistance to Turkey by over 50%, because of that country’s continued blockade of Armenia and ongoing human
rights abuses.

The third vote, in June of 1999, was against an amendment by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Spencer
Abraham (R-MI), to maintain restrictions on U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan as mandated in Section 907 of the
Freedom Support Act. In casting this vote, Lieberman broke with the majority of Senate Democrats who support
keeping these restrictions in place.

In October of last year, Lieberman joined thirteen of his Senate colleagues in co-sponsoring legislation
introduced by Sen. Abraham condemning the violent attack in the Armenian Parliament that claimed the lives of
Prime Minister Vazken Sarkissian, Parliament Chairman Karen Demirchian and several other members of the
Armenian Government and urged that Congress “cherish the strong friendship between Armenia and the United
States.”

The Republican Candidate: Dick Cheney
After serving as President Gerald Ford’s Chief of Staff in November 1975, Dick Cheney was elected to the
House of Representatives from the state of Wyoming in 1978, and served for six terms. During that time, Cheney
voted against resolutions commemorating the Armenian Genocide both in 1985 and 1987. In 1995, Cheney
joined the Halliburton Company, an oil and energy services corporation, and after his appointment as Chairman
of the Board in 1996, worked extensively with the government of Azerbaijan on oil exploration ventures. Since
that time, he has been a vocal advocate of efforts to repeal restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan despite that
country’s ongoing blockades of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh. In his keynote speech at a U.S.-Azerbaijan
Chamber of Commerce (USACC) conference on February 18, 1997, Cheney stated:

“I must also say that I believe that our current policy prohibiting U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan is
seriously misguided. In my experience, this kind of unilateral sanction, based primarily on U.S.
domestic political considerations, is unwise. Such a policy limits U.S. influence in any given
situation, and in this case, it reduces rather than enhances the prospects for ultimately resolving
a very complex and important set of regional issues.”

In 1997, Cheney, who serves as a member of the USACC “Honorary Council of Advisors,” was awarded their
“Freedom Support” award, for his “outstanding services to this organization [USACC] as well as contribution
toward promoting peace, democracy, freedom and economic development in Azerbaijan and a closer cooperation
between the United States and Azerbaijan.”

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