Friday, June 24 2022 10:55

ArmInfo. Despite ongoing Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia and Artsakh, President Joe Biden has, yet again, waived Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to  Azerbaijan, clearing the way for continued U.S. assistance to the  corrupt, anti-Armenian Aliyev regime, reported the Armenian National  Committee of America (ANCA).

"President Biden's decision to green-light military aid to Azerbaijan  by waiving Section 907, again, emboldens President Aliyev to continue  his illegal imprisonment of Armenian POWs, deadly attacks against  Artsakh, and ongoing occupation of sovereign Armenian territory,"  said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.  "The ANCA will continue  to work with U.S. Senate and House leaders to zero-out U.S.  military  aid to Azerbaijan and restrict presidential waiver authority of  Section 907."

The ANCA has been running an online campaign - https://anca.org/907 -  urging President Biden and Congress to maintain section 907  restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan.

During his run for office, on October 14th, 2020, then-candidate  Biden stated that the United States must "fully implement and not  waive requirements under Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act to  stop the flow of military equipment to Azerbaijian."  As President,  he first reversed his position on the issue on April 23, 2021 - on  the eve of his historic announcement properly recognizing the  Armenian Genocide.  "American recognition of the Armenian Genocide  comes with responsibilities, among them, not arming or abetting  Azerbaijan's drive to complete this crime," commented ANCA Executive  Director Aram Hamparian at the time. "Any action by President Biden  that green-lights U.S. aid to the Aliyev regime runs counter to his  clear stand and, more profoundly, the spirit of his recent  recognition of the Armenian Genocide."

Section 907, enacted in 1992, establishes statutory restrictions on  U.S. assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan "until the President  determines, and so reports to the Congress, that the Government of  Azerbaijan is taking demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and  other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh."  Congress included a Section 907 waiver in the FY2002 Foreign  Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations  Act. U.S. presidents - Republican and Democrat - have waived Section  907 annually ever since.

The Section 907 waiver and subsequent extensions require a number of  certifications, including that granting the waiver "will not  undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful  settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan or be used for offensive  purposes against Armenia."

A U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, issued earlier  this year, revealed that the State Department consistently failed to  inform Congress of the impact of over $164 million in assistance to  Baku on the military balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"In fiscal years 2014 through 2021, State's reporting to Congress did  not address some required elements, such as the impact of proposed  assistance on the military balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia,"  asserts the GAO report. "State's 2021 guidance to agencies did not  provide detailed instructions about the information required for its  reporting to Congress. Unless State takes steps to ensure its  reporting addresses all required elements, Congress may lack  important information about U.S. assistance to the government of  Azerbaijan."

The GAO report went further, to explain that State and DOD, from  fiscal year 2014 to 2020, "did not document how they determined that  their programs would not be used for offensive purposes against  Armenia." While program-level considerations of the waiver provision  are not statutorily required, documenting such considerations would  help ensure State's access to quality information to support its  certification of the waiver extension and its related reporting to  Congress, explains the report.

According to the GAO, the U.S. has provided about $808 million in  overall US aid to Azerbaijan in fiscal years 2002 through 2020.

The GAO report is available at:  https://anca.org/assets/pdf/013122_Sec907_GAO.pdf

Highlights from the GAO report are available at:   https://anca.org/assets/pdf/013122_Sec907_GAO_highlights.pdf