[ 25 Mar 2010 07:24 ]
Washington. Isabel Levine–APA. US Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. along with 27 pro-Armenian members of Congress sent a letter to the chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, Azerbaijani Diaspora in US (USAN) told APA’s Washington DC correspondent.
The congress members want to influence the State-foreign operations and related programs appropriations bill for the Fiscal year of 2011. They request that the subcommittee supports Congress’s funding request for US assistance to Armenia. Their argument is that Armenia is a very special partner of US and the bilateral relations will expand.
They also continue to push for parity in military assistance between Armenia and Azerbaijan, opening contacts between the US and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as increasing funding for Nagorno-Karabakh for humanitarian and developmental aid.
Funding in the Fiscal Year 2010 Omnibus bill provided US$41 million for Armenia and US$8 million for Nagorno-Karabakh.
In order to prevent this, the US Azerbaijanis Network decided to hold their own campaign, according to which every Azerbaijani American and whoever else, who wishes to support them, writes a letter to Congress members asking to eliminate the Fiscal Year 2011 funding for Nagorno-Karabakh and reduce aid to Armenia. Azerbaijanis also demand increasing the amount of the US funding for Azerbaijan.