Senate Committee vote on aid to Armenia - July 9th. Call Chairman Inouye today!‏

Senate Committee vote on aid to Armenia - July 9th. Call Chairman Inouye today! Dear Reader The Senate Appropriations Committee will be voting on the foreign aid bill on Thursday, July 9th. As you may remember, earlier this year, Pres. Obama followed in the tradition of Presidents Clinton and Bush in calling for a 38% reduction in aid to Armenia, and increase in aid to Azerbaijan and breaking parity in military assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan. The House Appropriations Committee in June voted to send $48 million in aid to Armenia, $10 million to Nagorno Karabagh and maintain military aid parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Please take a moment to contact Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye and encourage him to support $70 million in assistance to Armenia, $10 million to Nagorno Karabagh and maintain military assistance parity to Armenia and Azerbaijan. Contact information and a sample phone script are provided below. And please, let us know that you have made your call and the response that you received. With Regards, Raffi Karakashian ANCA Legislative Affairs team 1711 N Street NW Washington, DC 20036 Please Call Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Dan Inouye (D-HI) Phone: 202-224-7363 Please ask to leave a message for Chairman Inouye. Sample Phone Script: Hello, I am ________________ and I am calling about the foreign aid bill. I urge you to enhance Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act to ensure that U.S. military aid is not sent to Azerbaijan in light of its threats of renewed war against Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh. We should not reward a government that vows to wage war against an ally. I urge you to maintain proper support for Armenia, which continues to be a reliable and democratic ally in the region. In the face of an ongoing and illegal blockade by Turkey and Azerbaijan, I'm asking that aid to Armenia be at least $70 million, which it has traditionally received. Also, I urge you to provide $10 million in development aid to Nagorno Karabagh, which will help rebuild that region that has consistently held democratic, internationally-monitored elections. We should end both the outdated restrictions on development assistance to Nagorno Karabagh and U.S. contacts with Nagorno Karabagh. There should be open lines of communication between U.S. and Karabagh government officials. Thank you for your support for Armenia. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~