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“HUMANITARIAN AID CORRIDOR ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H1591 on April 16, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HUMANITARIAN AID CORRIDOR ACT
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rogan). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, today I received very disappointing news from the State Department. The President determined today to permit assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act to the Republic of Turkey. This is in spite of the fact that Turkey is maintaining an illegal and downright cruel blockade of the Republic of Armenia.
Mr. Speaker, for the past 2 years, the Foreign Operations appropriations legislation has contained a provision known as the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act which prohibits U.S. economic assistance to those countries blocking delivery of humanitarian aid to third countries. While this provision is not country-specific, it clearly applies to Turkey, which for more than 4 years has maintained a blockade of neighboring Armenia. While the people of Armenia are struggling to build democracy and reform their economy according to market principles, the blockade imposed along their border with Turkey disrupts the delivery of vitally needed humanitarian supplies.
The Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, unfortunately, lacks enforcement teeth since it grants the President the power to waive the provisions on very vague national security grounds. In order to make the Corridor Act mean something, last year this body approved an amendment to the Foreign Ops bill, sponsored by the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Visclosky], that would limit the Presidential waiver authority to provide U.S. economic assistance to countries that violate the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act. More than 300 Members of the House voted for this amendment, which would have essentially given the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act some teeth and not allowed the Presidential waiver in most cases. Unfortunately, the amendment was stripped in conference and the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter] included language instead that required the President to provide a justification for determining that it is in the national security interests of the United States to provide the economic assistance despite the fact that the recipient country, in this case Turkey, is in violation of the Corridor Act.
I want to commend the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter] for putting that language in, because we did at least get a semblance of a justification from the State Department. But I have to say that the justification issue today was not very convincing.
{time} 1615
Mr. Speaker, this action by the administration comes at a particularly bad time. Next week marks the 82d anniversary of the beginning of the genocide against the Armenian people which was perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish Empire. This genocide, which the Republic of Turkey has refused to acknowledge, ultimately claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians. Another 500,000 Armenians were deported.
Many Members of this House will take part with me in a special order next Wednesday to commemorate this solemn occasion. To have made this determination at this time I think is very inappropriate.
Mr. Speaker, I bear no ill will to the Turkish people. I am simply saying that maintaining good relations should not entail turning a blind eye to the outrageous actions committed by the Turkish Government. Given the generosity the United States has shown toward Turkey it is inappropriate, or I think I should say in this case it is appropriate for us to attach conditions, particularly such a basic condition as allowing the delivery of aid to a neighbor in need. I think most Americans would assume that a condition for U.S. aid should be that that country allows other U.S. aid to go through its country or its borders to another country that needs the aid. People, I think, in this country would be shocked to know that such a provision is not already a requirement on the recipients of U.S. assistance.
I want to say in conclusion that Armenia is a very small landlocked nation, dependent on land corridors from neighboring countries for many basic goods. Armenia has been one of the most exemplary of the former Soviet republics in terms of moving toward a Western-style political and economic system.
I traveled there earlier this year and can report that the blockade is having a devastating impact. The Armenian people respect and admire the United States. There are more than 1 million Americans of Armenian ancestry here. The bonds between our countries are strong and enduring, but the people of Armenia face a humanitarian crisis which is not the result of any natural disaster, but a deliberate policy of its neighbor to choke off access to needed goods from the outside world. We believe the exertion of U.S. leadership can play a major role in these intentions in promoting greater cooperation among the nations of the Caucasus regions, but the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act is an important part of this component. If we do not adhere to the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act and if the administration and the State Department continue to allow it to be waived, I think in the long run it is going to be detrimental to peace and better cooperation between Armenia and the other nations of the Caucasus and the United States, and I think this is a mistake that the State Department continues to exercise this waiver.
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