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Senate Aid Panel Votes Sharp Cut in Aid to Armenia

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  • Senate Aid Panel Votes Sharp Cut in Aid to Armenia

    SENATE AID PANEL VOTES SHARP CUT IN AID TO ARMENIA


    WASHINGTON, JUNE 30, NOYAN TAPAN - ARMENIANS TODAY. In a departure
    from its traditional support for a robust U.S. assistance package for
    Armenia, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee voted on June 29 to
    dramatically reduce aid to Armenia, reported the Armenian National
    Committee of America (ANCA).

    Early reports from Capitol Hill indicate that the Senate
    Appropriations Committee has approved a million economic aid package
    for Armenia as part of its fiscal year 2007 aid bill. This allocation
    was broken down into .2 million for Freedom Support Act aid, .96
    million for the Democracy Fund, and .8 million for the Child Survival
    Health Programs Fund. An additional .8 million was allocated for Peace
    Corps programs in Armenia. The panel's proposal is million less than
    the actual allocations for Armenia over the past several years.

    In a positive development, the Senate panel approved million for
    humanitarian and relief assistance for Nagorno Karabagh, a million
    increase over the fiscal year 2006 allocation of million. The panel
    also voted to recommend equal amounts of U.S. Foreign Military
    Financing (FMF) to Armenia and Azerbaijan, with each appropriated .5
    million. The panel did not clarify, however, whether they intended
    this parity to extend to the International Military Education and
    Training (IMET) and Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining, and
    Related Programs (NDAR) funds.

    "We are troubled by the retreat of Senate appropriators from their
    long-standing commitment to the U.S. aid program for Armenia and
    Nagorno Karabagh - all the more so given Armenia's impressive domestic
    progress, robust and expanding bilateral relations with the United
    States, peacekeeping support in Iraq and Kosovo, cooperation in
    settling the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, and on other pressing regional
    and security concerns," said ANCA Executive Director Aram
    Hamparian. "We look forward to working with appropriators in both
    houses of Congress to restore aid to at least last year's level."

    The Senate Appropriations Committee's decision stands in contrast to
    the House vote earlier this month, which allocated million in
    U.S. economic aid for Armenia. Over the course of the past decade, the
    Senate has consistently proposed higher levels of aid or Armenia than
    the House.

    The full Senate is expected to vote on the fiscal year 2007 foreign
    aid bill following its return from the July 4th Congressional recess,
    after which House and Senate appropriators will hold a conference to
    work out differences between their two bills.

    In March of this year, the Millennium Challenge Corporation - a newly
    established, performance-based foreign aid program - approved a
    five-year, 5 million assistance package to build roads and irrigation
    systems in Armenia's rural regions.
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