Congress sets Armenia aid at below 2009 level

$41mln economic, $8mln Karabakh, $3mln military

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Saturday December 12, 2009

Rep. Nita Lowey (D.-N.Y.), member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairwomen of the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.

Related Articles

Saying thank you for aid to Armenia

Ask Congress to help maintain the peace

The $28 million question

Congress sets Armenia aid at below 2009 level

Members of Congress urge higher Armenia aid for 2010

Senate committee endorses administration’s Armenia aid reduction

Foreign aid bill endorsed by House Appropriations Committee

House panel ups Armenia, Karabakh aid levels, insists on military aid parity

Members of Congress react to administration’s Armenia aid request

Ambassador to Armenia reacts to critics of aid request

Fixing the administration’s foreign aid request

Obama’s Armenia aid request: less than Congress, more than Bush

Armenian Caucus co-chairs make aid, policy proposals

Washington - Conferees from the two chambers of Congress have agreed on a foreign aid bill for Fiscal Year 2010 that allocates $41 million in economic aid to Armenia, $8 million for Karabakh, and $3 million each in military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The numbers were a compromise between higher allocations proposed by the House of Representatives and lower figures requested by the administration and endorsed in the Senate.

The overall allocation represents a $7.5 million cut in Armenia programs compared to FY2009 and is $43 million less than the total requested by the Armenian Caucus co-chairs, Reps. Frank Pallone (D.-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R.-Ill.) last March.

In October, 29 members of congress wrote to congressional appropriators requesting that they agree to the higher House of Representatives figures.

Nevertheless, Armenian-American organizations praised congressional friends of Armenia for their efforts to partially reverse an even larger cut proposed by the Obama administration in May and restore "parity" in military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Asked by the Armenian Reporter for comment on the conference decision, Rep. Nita Lowey (D.-N.Y.), chair of the House Subcommittee on Foreign Appropriations, noted, "Armenia is an important partner and a close ally of the United States. The United States has an interest in its security, growth, and development."

"I will continue working in the Congress to advance this important partnership," Rep. Lowey said an in e-mail relayed by her office.

In a departure from past, this year's allocation for Karabakh no longer restricts programs there to humanitarian aid, opening a possibility for expansion of programs long advocated by the Armenian Caucus.

In the report language accompanying the foreign aid bill, Congress also urged "all parties to the [Karabakh] conflict to refrain from threats of violence and the use of inflammatory rhetoric."

The report also makes aid to Azerbaijan - set at $22 million in FY2010 - conditional on the administration's certification to Congress that it would not undermine the Karabakh peace process or be used against Armenia.

Of about $611 million U.S. aid to the Europe and Eurasia region, the largest allocation - $95 million - went to Kosovo. U.S. aid to Georgia is set at $59 million.

*The Senate panel endorsed the administration figure for aid to Armenia and made no specific request for aid to Karabakh or military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan.