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Washington, D.C. - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is poised to consider the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), of which 5 bipartisan amendments, ranging from the release of Armenian POWs to prohibiting the sale of F-16s to Turkey, were made in order by the House Committee on Rules, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).
The Assembly strongly supports and urges passage of the following bipartisan amendments:
Amendment sponsored by Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and co-sponsored by Reps. Jackie Speier (D-CA), David Valadao (R-CA), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Andy Levin (D-MI), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Jim Langevin (D-RI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Dina Titus (D-NV), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Debbie Lesko (D-AZ), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Kim Young (R-CA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Don Beyer (D-VA), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): This amendment "expresses the sense of Congress that the government of Azerbaijan should immediately return all Armenian prisoners of war and captured civilians. Urges the Administration to engage with Azerbaijani authorities, including through the OSCE Minsk Group, to make clear the importance of adhering to their obligations under the November 9 statement and international law to immediately release all prisoners of war and captured civilians."
Amendment sponsored by Reps. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), and co-sponsored by Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Andy Levin (D-MI), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), David Valadao (R-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Jim Langevin (D-RI) and Dina Titus (D-NV): This amendment "creates a report on Azerbaijan's activities in Nagorno Karabakh in 2020 to be submitted to Congress by the Secretary of Defense in consultation with the Secretary of State."
Amendment sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) and co-sponsored by Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), David Valadao (R-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Jim Langevin (D-RI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): This amendment "directs the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to document details of the consideration of the waiver requirements to Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act and report on whether security assistance to the government of Azerbaijan undermines a peaceful settlement to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan."
Amendment sponsored by Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) and co-sponsored by Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Andy Levin (D-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Dina Titus (D-NV), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), David Cicilline (D-RI), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Jim Langevin (D-RI), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): This amendment "prohibits the President from selling or exporting new F-16s or F-16 upgrade technology or modernization kits to Turkey unless the President provides a certification to Congress that such a transfer is in the national interest of the United States and includes a detailed description of concrete steps taken to ensure that such F-16s are not used by Turkey for repeated unauthorized territorial overflights of Greece."
Amendment sponsored by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and co-sponsored by Rep. Darin Lahood (R-IL): This amendment "requires a report within 90 days of enactment that contains an evaluation of the humanitarian situation in Lebanon, as well as the impact of the deficit of wheat imports to the country due to Russia's further invasion of Ukraine, initiated on February 24, 2022."
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
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