Robert Menendez introduces amendment to revoke U.S. Presidential  waiver of Section 907 restrictions on U.S. Aid to Azerbaijan 

ArmInfo.Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-CA) today introduced a powerful amendment that would end U.S. presidential waiver  authority of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, an Armenian  National Committee of America (ANCA) -backed measure that would  effectively block U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan.

According to the source, the amendment (#4177) is one of three  amendments to the Senate version of the National Defense  Authorization Act (NDAA) that deals with U.S.  aid to Azerbaijan as  well as Azerbaijani and Turkish war crimes committed against Artsakh  and Armenia during the 2020 war.  

The amendment removes all references to presidential waiver authority  of Section 907, a provision first put in place in 2001, and utilized  by successive U.S.  presidents - including President Biden, even in  the wake of Azerbaijan's 2020 brutal aggression against Artsakh in  Armenia. Since 2016, the U.S.  has provided over $120 million in U.S.  military assistance to Azerbaijan, in the face of objections by  Members of Congress and the ANCA, which has long raised alarms about  the Aliyev regime's belligerence in the region.  

Senator Menendez also offered a second amendment (#4150) to the NDAA  which calls for a joint State Department and Defense Department  report on Turkey's use of U.S.  technology in its Bayrakdar drones,  with a special focus on whether their sale to third countries, like  Azerbaijan, violates U.S. export laws.  The ANCA has identified a  number of U.S. parts used in Bayrakdar drones that targeted Artsakh  and Armenian civilians during the 2020 Artsakh war.  

In addition to the ANCA, Amendment #4150 also has the support of a  coalition of ethnic, civic, and faith-based groups including the  Hellenic American Leadership Council, American Friends of Kurdistan,  the Hindu American Foundation, and the Middle East Forum.  A third  amendment (#4251) introduced by California Senator Alex Padilla (D)  calls for a joint State Department and Defense Department report, in  response to Azerbaijani war crimes during the 2020 Artsakh war,  including the use of U.S. technology during the attacks; the use of  white phosphorous, cluster bombs, and other prohibited munitions; and  the hiring of foreign mercenaries.  

"We thank Senators Menendez and Padilla for their principled  leadership in holding Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable," said ANCA  Executive Director Aram Hamparian.  "We are working - in Washington,  DC and across each of our fifty states - to secure the adoption of  their ANCA-backed amendments enforcing Section 907, investigating  Azerbaijani war crimes, and demanding answers about the U.S. parts  discovered in the Turkish drones deployed by Azerbaijan against  Artsakh." Hamparian offered a Facebook Live overview of the Menendez  and Padilla amendments, available here:   https://www.facebook.com/ancagrassroots/videos/278713760931040 

Additional Armenian-related amendments to the NDAA may be introduced  in the next several days. A Senate vote on the Menendez and Padilla  amendments can come as early as next week.  

Earlier this year, the U.S. House adopted five ANCA-backed amendments  to its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R.4350),  which demanded Baku's release of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs),  called for investigations into Azerbaijani war crimes, supported  expanded U.S.  aid to Artsakh, and urged Turkey's Grey Wolves be  designated a foreign terrorist organization. For more information on  the pro- Armenia/Artsakh House amendments to the NDAA, visit:   https://anca.org/press-  release/breaking-u-s-house-demands-azerbaijani-  war-crimes-investigation-azerbaijans-release-of-armenian-pows/