Sixty U.S. representatives call on Secretary Rubio to end military  aid to Azerbaijan 

ArmInfo. Sixty U.S. Representatives have called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to  enforce Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act - demanding an  immediate end to U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, citing  Baku's ethnic cleansing of Artsakh's 120,000 indigenous Armenian  Christian population, continued occupation of sovereign Armenian  territory, and illegal detention and abuse of Armenian prisoners,  reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). 

Representatives Mike Lawler (R-NY), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Gus  Bilirakis (R-FL), and Gabe Amo (D-RI) led the bi-partisan  Congressional letter sent to Secretary of State Rubio earlier today.   POLITICO's Eric Bazail-Eimil broke news of the lawmakers' demands in  today's National Security Daily news bulletin.

"The ANCA welcomes this bipartisan Congressional call on Secretary  Rubio to enforce Section 907 - ending U.S. military aid to  Azerbaijan," stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "In the  wake of Azerbaijan's genocidal ethnic cleansing of the indigenous  Armenian Christians of Artsakh - amid its ongoing occupation of  sovereign Armenian territory and illegal detention of Armenian  hostages - we cannot ask U.S. taxpayers to subsidize this oil-rich,  violent, and corrupt foreign dictatorship. We thank Representatives  Lawler, Pallone, Bilirakis, and Amo - and the 60 Representatives who  joined with them - for their moral clarity and strong pro-peace  leadership."

    Joining Representatives Lawler, Pallone, Bilirakis, and Amo in  co-signing the letter are Representatives Jake Auchincloss (D-MA),  Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Don Beyer (D-VA), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Salud  Carbajal (D-CA), Greg Casar (D-TX), Sean Casten (D-IL), Joaquin  Castro (D-TX), Judy Chu (D-CA), Gil Cisneros (D-CA), Jim Costa  (D-CA), Vince Fong (R-CA), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Jimmy Gomez (D-  CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Sydney  Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), Ro Khanna (D- CA), Young Kim (R-CA), Raja  Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), John Larson (D-CT), Susie Lee (D-NV), Ted Lieu  (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), "Seth Magaziner,   (D-RI)", Nicole Malliotakis (R- NY), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Betty  McCollum (D-MN), James McGovern (D-MA), Rob Menendez (D- NJ), Grace  Meng (D-NY), Dave Min (D-CA), Barry Moore (R-AL), Joseph Morelle  (D-NY), Kevin Mullin (D-CA), Richard Neal (D-MA), Eleanor Holmes  Norton (D-DC), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Delia Ramirez (D- IL), Luz Rivas  (D-CA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Brad  Schneider (D-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Lateefah Simon (D-CA),  Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Tom Suozzi (D-NY),  Dina Titus (D-NV), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Lori  Trahan (D-MA), David Valadao (R-CA, ), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), and  George Whitesides (D-CA),     Citing Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh's (Artsakh)  120,000 indigenous Armenian population, the lawmakers stressed,  "having faced no material consequences or accountability for its  actions, Azerbaijan continues to undermine efforts to ensure a just,  durable, and dignified peace in the region through its ongoing  aggression against Armenia."    The signatories urged Secretary Rubio not to invoke the waiver  authority that has allowed successive administrations to circumvent  Section 907 and instead enforce the law to hold Azerbaijan  accountable for its crimes.  Every U.S. President has invoked the  waiver since 2001 until President Biden, who enforced the provision  in 2024.    The lawmakers argued, "amid Azerbaijan's ongoing aggression against  Armenia, its continued abuse of Armenian POWs, its destruction of  Armenian Christian cultural heritage, and its denial of the right of  Nagorno Karabakh's Armenians to safely return to their homes, the  continued failure to hold Azerbaijan accountable would not only risk  normalizing Azerbaijan's actions - but embolden U.S. rivals seeking  to take advantage of Washington's inaction."

    The letter builds on Congressional momentum from the Armenian  Protection Act (S.3000), led in the Senate by then Senator, now  Secretary of State, Rubio and Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), which  passed unanimously in 2023 and underscored growing bipartisan concern  over U.S. military ties to the Aliyev regime.  

The ANCA launched a nationwide grassroots campaign urging support for  the Lawler-Pallone-Bilirakis- Amo letter, with over 50,000 individual  letters sent to Congress through the ANCA Rapid Responder system.   Over the past weeks, youth advocates participating in the ANCA Rising  Leaders program joined the ANCA DC and Regional teams and visited  over 400 Congressional offices supporting the effort.