ANCA urges $70 million U.S. aid package for Armenia, Artsakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - In testimony submitted on Thursday, March 1 to the Senate panel drafting the Fiscal Year 2019 foreign aid bill, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) called for a targeted $70 million aid package that would fund de-mining and rehabilitation in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), implementation of the Royce-Engel proposal to deploy gunfire locators along the line-of-contact, the expansion of U.S.-Armenia economic and military partnerships, and support for Armenia as a regional safe haven for at-risk Middle East refugees.

ANCA Government Affairs Director Raffi Karakashian opened his testimony to the Senate's Appropriations Subcommittee on State-Foreign Operations by marking the 100th anniversary of the first Armenian Republic, inviting the panel to join with him in celebrating a century of U.S.-Armenia relations. He then turned to the ANCA's top-line priorities:

-- Artsakh: $6 million to complete de-mining and rehabilitate the disabled, $4 million to promote peace

-- Armenia: $30 million in economic aid, $10 million in military aid, $20 million for Middle East refugees

-- Azerbaijan: Suspend U.S. military aid and strengthen Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act

In each of these areas, Karakashian shared with appropriators how the ANCA's proposals advance U.S. interests and suggested concise, draft legislative language for their consideration. He closed his testimony by reaffirming the ANCA's commitment to Armenia's aid-to-trade transition, asking Members of the Subcommittee to encourage the Trump Administration to make full use of the U.S.-Armenia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and Economic Task Force, and, most urgently, to move forward with the long-overdue negotiation of a modern U.S. Armenia Double Tax Treaty.

Earlier, pro-Armenian activists from Alaska and Arizona to Maine and Montana responded to an ANCA action alert by sending over 15,000 messages to federal officials on Capitol Hill in support of the Armenian American policy priorities.

Emails sent from every U.S. state and nearly each of America's 435 House districts outlined the full array of ANCA "asks" regarding a secure Artsakh, a strong Armenia, a just resolution of the Armenian Genocide, and support for Syrian Armenians.