Senators Padilla and Rubio launch bi-partisan bill condemning  Azerbaijan`s Artsakhb blockade; demanding Aliyev sanctions 

ArmInfo.Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) teamed up to introduce Anti-Blockade  legislation today, backed by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), and supported by a wide array of American civil society coalition partners, increasing U.S. pressure on Azerbaijan to end its nearly six-month long blockade of 120,000 Christian Armenians in their indigenous Artsakh homeland.

    The measure is similar to H.Res.108, a bipartisan resolution  spearheaded by Congressional Armenian Caucus co-Chair Frank Pallone  (D-NJ) and the Armenian Caucus leadership, which currently has 88  cosponsors.

    The Senate introduction - which is supported by Senate Foreign  Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who is an  original cosponsor of the measure - is timed with the next round of  U.S.-mediated Azerbaijan-Armenia peace talks, scheduled as early as  next week in Washington DC.  The measure specifically calls for U.S.  sanctions against Azerbaijani officials responsible for the Artsakh  blockade and ongoing anti-Armenian human rights violations and urges  the Biden Administration to stop all military aid to Azerbaijan by  fully enforcing Section 907 sanctions.

    "Armenian and allied Americans thank Senators Padilla, Rubio, and  Menendez for enforcing concrete costs and real-world consequences on  Azerbaijan over its six-month-long blockade of Artsakh - starting  with the immediate cut-off of all U.S. military aid to Baku," said  ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "American taxpayers should  not be asked to subsidize the armed forces of an authoritarian regime  that neither needs nor deserves U.S. support."

"Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin Corridor-the only road  connecting Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) to Armenia-is inhumane and  unacceptable," said Senator Padilla, upon introduction of the  measure. "This blockade has created a humanitarian crisis, rendering  the 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh without access to food,  medicine, and other basic necessities. Our resolution would make it  clear that the United States must take action to hold Azerbaijan  accountable."

    Rep. Pallone welcomed the Senate introduction of the measure,  stating, "I stand with my colleagues today in condemning Azerbaijan's  ongoing blockade of Artsakh. It's clear that Azerbaijan's blockage of  the Lachin Corridor is coordinated and intended to shut off the only  supply route for much of Artsakh's food, medical supplies and  transport, and other essential goods. We stand united in telling  Azerbaijan to end this intentional humanitarian crisis."

    In addition to clearly and unequivocally condemning Azerbaijan's  six-month blockade, the resolution would place the U.S. Senate on  record in favor of five practical remedies to the worsening  humanitarian crisis in Artsakh caused by Azerbaijan's blockade of  food, medicine, and other vital necessities:

    (1) Encourages the United States Government and the international  community to petition the United Nations Security Council, the  Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and other  appropriate international bodies to investigate any and all war  crimes committed by Azerbaijani forces against Armenian civilians;  (2) Calls for the deployment of international observers to the Lachin  Corridor and Nagorno- Karabakh to explore opportunities for more  effective and sustainable guarantees of security and peaceful  development.

    (3) calls on the President to immediately suspend any U.S. new,  current, or pending military or security assistance to Azerbaijan,  and to fully enforce Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act;

    (4) supports U.S. sanctions under existing statutory authority  against Azerbaijani officials responsible for the blockade of  Nagorno-Karabakh and other well-documented human rights violations  committed against Armenians in the region such as the targeting of  civilian infrastructure and the destruction of historic, cultural,  and places of worship of great significance to Armenians;

  (5) supports efforts by the United States, the European Union, and  the international community to provide humanitarian assistance to  victims of Azerbaijani aggression in Nagorno-Karabakh.  

The full text of the resolution is available here.   https://anca.org/assets/pdf/060823_Padilla_Rubio_AntiBlockade_Bill.pdf