ANCA mobilizes community and Congressional allies behind Armenian Caucus call for $50 million in US Artsakh aid

WASHINGTON, DC – The Congressional Armenian Caucus called on US House appropriators this week to allocate $50 million in US assistance for Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), echoing policy proposals put forth by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) to address pressing humanitarian needs in Artsakh as part of the long-delayed Fiscal Year 2022 foreign aid bill.

In a letter to Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations chairs and ranking members, Congressional Armenian Caucus co-chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Jackie Speier (D-CA) and vice-chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) called for $50 million to be “made available for assistance in Nagorno-Karabakh, used to provide humanitarian assistance and resettlement support to the Armenian victims of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, both those residing in and those displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. Such assistance will help to meet basic human needs, including maternity healthcare and drinking water programs.”

The Armenian Caucus co-chairs thanked the House appropriators for including report language allocating $50 million in US economic and humanitarian assistance to Armenia in the FY2022 foreign aid bill. “However, the Armenian people of Artsakh are still recovering from the war that was initiated by Azerbaijani and Turkish forces in the fall of 2020, which resulted in significant loss of life and large refugee flows. Months later, there continue to be ongoing border disputes. This has had a devastating impact on the Armenian people of Artsakh, and we must ensure they have the resources they need to recover. Unfortunately, the United States did not provide appropriate levels of humanitarian assistance to meet the immense need, and the road to recovery continues to be long,” stated the letter to Senate and House appropriators.

Earlier this week, ANCA chairman Raffi Hamparian, in letters to over 20 key Senate and House members, made the case for sending $50 million in US aid for Artsakh, noting “As you and your professional staff are aware, since Azerbaijan’s attack against Artsakh, the US Agency for International Development has delivered negligible humanitarian aid to over 90,000 displaced Armenians. This is not acceptable and inconsistent with America’s broad, rich, and deep tradition of assisting victims of war crimes.”

Over 50,000 ANCA Rapid Responders have already contacted their Senators and Representatives in support of expanded US aid to Artsakh and Armenia.

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The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and most influential Armenian-American grassroots organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.