Tuesday, June 28, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

ANCA Advances Foreign Aid Priorities In Testimony to Congressional Panel

by Contributor
April 11, 2011
in Armenia, Featured Story, National, News, Top Stories
1
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


ANCA Government Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian

Government Affairs Director Alerts Panel to Azerbaijani Threat to Shoot Down a Civilian Airliner; Calls on Congress to Consider a Freeze on All Military Aid to Azerbaijan over Baku’s Escalating Threats and Acts of Aggression

WASHINGTON—In testimony submitted to a key panel of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Armenian National Committee of America outlined the Armenian American community’s current foreign aid priorities and restated the continued support of Armenian Americans for international affairs programs that help expand the U.S.-Armenia relationship and promote stability throughout the region.
ANCA Government Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian, in remarks submitted to a hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, set forth the ANCA’s policy recommendation for inclusion in the Fiscal Year 2012 foreign aid bill currently under consideration by the panel.
Nahapetian, after opening her remarks by thanking the panel’s Chairwoman, Kay Granger (R-TX), and Ranking Member, Nita Lowey (D- NY), noted that: “The U.S. and the Armenian governments have steadily expanded relations based on a history of shared values and common interests in a secure stable Caucasus and Caspian region.” She then offered suggestions for practical means of strengthen this partnership.
1. At least $60 million in economic support funds for Armenia
2. At least $10 million in development aid to Nagorno-Karabakh
3. The strengthening of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act and maintaining military aid parity to Armenia and Azerbaijan
4. The removal of barriers to U.S.-Nagorno Karabakh contacts and communications
5. Support for the reinstatement of Nagorno Karabakh in the OSCE Minsk Group peace process
6. At least $10 million in military aid to Armenia
Nahapetian called special attention to past efforts by the panel to help constrain Azerbaijan’s leaders from escalating their threats and acts of aggression, noting that: “Despite past Foreign Operations conference report language urging all parties to refrain from threats of violence, which we welcomed, Azerbaijan has disregarded this request and instead has just threatened in March 2011 to shoot down civilian airplanes flying to Nagorno Karabakh, its president has repeated that “only the first stage of war is over,” and its Defense Minister stated in February 2011 that Azerbaijan is “seriously preparing” for war. The Subcommittee should seriously reconsider giving any military assistance to a country that threatens to commit terrorist acts by shooting down civilian aircraft. If military assistance is provided, the waiver authority granted to the President under Section 907 should be substantially limited.”
The complete text of the ANCA testimony is provided below:
“The Armenian American Community and U.S. Foreign Assistance Policy”
Presented by Kate Nahapetian, Government Affairs Director
Testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Thank you Chairwoman Granger, Ranking Member Lowey, and Members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs for once again providing the Armenian National Committee of America with the opportunity to contribute the views of our community to your discussions concerning the foreign aid bill.
The Armenian American community requests:
1. At least $60 million in economic support funds for Armenia
2. At least $10 million in development aid to Nagorno-Karabakh
3. The strengthening of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act and maintaining military aid parity to Armenia and Azerbaijan
4. The removal of barriers to U.S.-Nagorno Karabakh contacts and communications
5. Support for the reinstatement of Nagorno Karabakh in the OSCE Minsk Group peace process
6. At least $10 million in military aid to Armenia
The U.S. and the Armenian governments have steadily expanded relations based on a history of shared values and common interests in a secure stable Caucasus and Caspian region. I would like, today, to offer our thought about how we can strengthen this partnership by briefly outlining our foreign aid priorities for the coming year.
1. $60 Million in Economic Support Funds for Armenia
Since Armenia’s independence in 1991, U.S. aid has played a vital role in meeting humanitarian needs, fostering democratic reforms, and building self-sustaining economic growth.
A Strong Ally: Armenia has extended its full support to the U.S. in the war on terror, including information sharing and cooperation in blocking terrorist financing. Armenia is a partner state in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Armenia’s parliament voted unanimously in December 2010 to both increase its presence and extend its mission in Afghanistan. Armenia also hosted the first NATO exercises in the Southern Caucasus after the Russian-Georgian war. In early 2004, in its first mission abroad, Armenia sent peacekeeping forces to Kosovo to serve under Greek command as part of NATO KFOR operations. In 2008, the size of the force was doubled. Approximately 50 Armenian troops served under Polish command as part of Coalition peacekeeping operations in South-Central Iraq. The Armenian forces, which rotated every six months, included doctors, de-mining experts, and truck drivers. Armenia also invited Iraqi officers to Armenia for training in mine-removal operations.
A Free Economy: Today, with U.S. help, Armenia is a member of the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank; has signed bilateral agreements with the U.S. on trade, investments, and the protection of investments; holds regular Economic Task Force meetings, and; in 2005, was granted Permanent Normal Trade Relations status. The Wall Street Journal-Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom regularly ranks Armenia as among the top 40 freest economies in the world.
A Nation Blockaded: In large part as a result of reforms supported by U.S. development programs, Armenia’s economy has, until the current worldwide economic crisis, grown by more than 10 percent in each of the past 6 years, more than doubling Armenia’s Gross National Product. Armenia, however, still faces the impact of Turkey and Azerbaijan’s blockades – estimated by the World Bank as costing Armenia at least $720 million on an annual basis.
 
2. We call for at least $10 million in direct development assistance to Nagorno Karabakh.
We encourage the allocation of no less than $10 million in FY12 assistance for development programs in Nagorno Karabakh, and encourage the Congress to investigate the failure of successive Administrations to allocate to the Nagorno Karabakh aid program the funds intended by Congress.
We welcomed the removal, in the FY10 State, Foreign Operations report, of language restricting aid to Nagorno Karabakh to humanitarian projects. The elimination of this restriction opened the door to much needed developmental aid to Nagorno Karabakh.
For more than a decade, the U.S. Congress has played a unique and vital role in providing direct aid to meet pressing needs in Nagorno Karabakh, helping its people to rebuild their lives after years of devastating Azerbaijani aggression and ethnic cleansing. The provision of direct development aid would reflect our success in leveraging local efforts to dramatically reduce Nagorno Karabakh’s humanitarian challenges.
Since declaring independence in 1991, Nagorno Karabakh has built a solid democracy, a free market economy, respected human rights, and held five parliamentary and three presidential votes, all praised by international monitors as free and fair. Development aid will further strengthen democracy through election reforms and civic and media programs, and will represent a powerful symbol of U.S. support for Nagorno Karabakh’s commitment to a fair and lasting peace.
We call on the Congress to request that the Administration provide an annual report on the U.S. assistance program to Nagorno Karabakh, including a full accounting of allocated funds, a review of all policies governing the implementation of this program, and a preview of planned and upcoming projects.
3. Strengthening Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act and maintaining military aid parity
Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, a law first enacted more than 18 years ago, stands as a statement of U.S. opposition to Azerbaijan’s blockades and other aggressive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Since its enactment, Azerbaijan has not lifted its illegal blockades, nor have its leaders agreed to pursue a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
Despite past Foreign Operations conference report language urging all parties to refrain from threats of violence, which we welcomed, Azerbaijan has disregarded this request and instead has just threatened in March 2011 to shoot down civilian airplanes flying to Nagorno Karabakh, its President has repeated that “only the first stage of war is over,” and its Defense Minister stated in February 2011 that Azerbaijan is “seriously preparing” for war. The Subcommittee should seriously reconsider giving any military assistance to a country that threatens to commit terrorist acts by shooting down civilian aircraft. If military assistance is provided, the waiver authority granted to the President under Section 907 should be substantially limited.
Despite Azerbaijan’s refusal to meet the terms of Section 907, under pressure from the Administration, the Congress adopted, in the FY02 foreign aid bill, broadly-worded authority to the President to waive the enforcement of this law. In light of Baku’s continued acts and threats of aggression, we urge you to add the following language narrowing the Presidential waiver authority:
The President may waive Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act if he determines and certifies to the Committees on Appropriations that
1. The Azerbaijani government has not, over the preceding 12 months, taken any military action against either Nagorno Karabakh or Armenia, or threatened to undertake any act of violence or aggression against Nagorno Karabakh or Armenia, and;
2. The government of Azerbaijan has publicly and openly committed to seek a negotiated resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh solely through peaceful, non-violent means.
Assuming all conditions of this new waiver authority can be met, and military assistance is provided to Azerbaijan, we urge you to uphold the Committee’s long-standing tradition of maintaining parity in military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
4. Removing restrictions on contacts and communication with Nagorno Karabakh
The time has come for the lifting of outdated and counter-productive restrictions on the free exchange of ideas between U.S. officials and the democratically elected leadership of Nagorno Karabakh.
These outdated and arbitrary restrictions – first put in place by the State Department close to 20 years ago – stand in the way of a long overdue dialogue. These restrictions prevent meetings, block travel, prohibit exchange programs, and bar cooperation on public health, counter-proliferation, anti-narcotics, and other regional issues.
These restrictions even hinder direct oversight of U.S. assistance programs in Nagorno Karabakh. The only channel of direct communication left open is through the OSCE Minsk Group, which is focused almost entirely on the peace process.
We respectfully request that the following report language be included in the bill:
“In the interest of promoting mutual understanding, regional cooperation, and a fair and lasting peace, the Committee directs the Department of State, to remove any official or unofficial restrictions on U.S.-Nagorno Karabakh travel, visitations, discussions, meetings, contacts, consultations, exchange programs, or other governmental or civil society communication, cooperation, or interaction.”
5. Supporting the reinstatement of Nagorno Karabakh in the Minsk Group peace process
The Nagorno Karabakh Republic was one of the three parties to the 1994 brokered cease fire, which ended military hostilities between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan. In its aftermath, Nagorno Karabakh actively participated in the OSCE Minsk Group peace process as an equal partner, along with Armenia and Azerbaijan, in establishing a final and lasting peace in the South Caucasus region.
Since 1997, however, at Azerbaijan’s insistence, Nagorno Karabakh has been excluded from the OSCE Minsk Group peace process. As the key party in the negotiations for a final peace agreement, Nagorno Karabakh must be permitted to fully participate in the ongoing negotiations over its final status.
Calls from the governments in Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia for Nagorno Karabakh’s reinstatement are growing more intense with Nagorno-Karabakh’s Foreign Ministry stating in June 2009 that “no agreement regarding the interests, fate, and future of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic can be adopted” without Nagorno-Karabakh’s full participation and Armenian Foreign Minister Nalbandian informing the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in February 2009 that “it is impossible to achieve progress in the settlement without Nagorno-Karabakh’s direct participation.” The U.S. Co-Chair to the Minsk Group even admitted in August 2009 that “As Co-Chairs, we know that there cannot be an agreement that’s viable if the views of the Karabakhi Armenians are not fully incorporated because they won’t accept the agreement.”
We respectfully request that the following report language be included in the bill:
“In the interest of promoting a lasting and durable peace in the South Caucasus, the Nagorno Karabakh Republic must be reinstated into the OSCE Minsk Group peace process as a full negotiating partner.”
6. Allocating $10 million in military aid to Armenia
Armenia continues to expand its military partnership with the United States and NATO. The steady growth of this cooperation reflects both the strong partnership between the U.S. and Armenia and the enduring ties that have, for more than a century, brought together these two nations around shared democratic values.
This military cooperation, which began following the Republic of Armenia’s independence from the Soviet Union, was strengthened in scope and depth in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11th. The new era of intensive cooperation includes partnerships in the following areas:

  • Armenia joined the global war on terror, contributed troops to the Coalition in Iraq, sent troops to support NATO peacekeeping in Kosovo, and is part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
  • In order to ensure the transparency of its Armed Forces and enhance the spirit of cooperation, Armenia created the necessary conditions for the U.S. Department of Defense to conduct a successful Defense Assessment. After consulting the U.S., Armenia adopted its first National Security Strategy.
  • With U.S. help, Armenia established a modern and well-equipped De-mining Center that trains officers for peacekeeping operations. Armenia has established a State Partnership Program with the State of Kansas.
  • Armenia ratified a Status of Forces Agreement with NATO and concluded a bilateral Article 98 Agreement, providing safeguards to U.S. military personnel in Armenia.

In closing, please know that the ANCA respects and values the Subcommittee’s long-standing leadership on issues of concern to Armenian Americans and looks forward to working with the Subcommittee to strengthen the U.S.-Armenia alliance.

Contributor

Contributor

Next Post

Armenians to Boycott PACE Karabakh ‘Subcommittee’

Comments 1

  1. manooshag says:
    11 years ago

    Hye, Kate yev ANCAers, abreek.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Menendez, Schiff Alarmed that Biden Again Approves U.S. Military Aid to Azerbaijan

Menendez, Schiff Alarmed that Biden Again Approves U.S. Military Aid to Azerbaijan

13 hours ago
Press Boycotts Pashinyan’s ‘News Conference’

Press Boycotts Pashinyan’s ‘News Conference’

15 hours ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

Accessibility

Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

    Readable Experience

    Content Scaling
    Default
    Text Magnifier
    Readable Font
    Dyslexia Friendly
    Highlight Titles
    Highlight Links
    Font Sizing
    Default
    Line Height
    Default
    Letter Spacing
    Default
    Left Aligned
    Center Aligned
    Right Aligned

    Visually Pleasing Experience

    Dark Contrast
    Light Contrast
    Monochrome
    High Contrast
    High Saturation
    Low Saturation
    Adjust Text Colors
    Adjust Title Colors
    Adjust Background Colors

    Easy Orientation

    Mute Sounds
    Hide Images
    Virtual Keyboard
    Reading Guide
    Stop Animations
    Reading Mask
    Highlight Hover
    Highlight Focus
    Big Dark Cursor
    Big Light Cursor
    Navigation Keys

    Asbarez.com Accessibility Statement

    Accessibility Statement

    • asbarez.com
    • June 28, 2022

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to