Title: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate condemning Azerbaijani forces' illegal and unprovoked assault on Armenian territory and insisting upon the cessation of security assistance to Azerbaijan in accordance with Federal law.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution condemns Azerbaijan's attacks on Armenian territory, urges the Department of State to halt security assistance to Azerbaijan, and supports the provision of humanitarian assistance to Armenia.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 797 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 797

   Expressing the sense of the Senate condemning Azerbaijani forces' 
illegal and unprovoked assault on Armenian territory and insisting upon 
 the cessation of security assistance to Azerbaijan in accordance with 
                              Federal law.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 27, 2022

   Mr. Menendez (for himself and Mr. Rubio) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Senate condemning Azerbaijani forces' 
illegal and unprovoked assault on Armenian territory and insisting upon 
 the cessation of security assistance to Azerbaijan in accordance with 
                              Federal law.

Whereas, on September 13, 2022, Azerbaijani forces mounted an illegal and 
        unprovoked assault on Armenian territory, including the cities of 
        Vardenis, Sotk, Artanish, Ishkhanasar, Goris, and Kapan;
Whereas, by September 14, 2022, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan 
        announced a preliminary death toll of more than 100 Armenians;
Whereas the Azerbaijani military fired artillery at Armenian villages along the 
        border, forcing more than 2,750 civilians, including 370 children and 55 
        people with disabilities, to evacuate their homes and take shelter;
Whereas, according to Armenia's Ministry of Territorial Administration and 
        Infrastructure, the Azerbaijani attack damaged 192 residential buildings 
        in Gegharkunik, Syunik, and Vayots Dzor Provinces;
Whereas, according to the Armenian Ombudsman, Azerbaijani shelling set fire to a 
        forest in Jermuk, with artillery fire preventing Armenian firefighters 
        from immediate access to the blaze;
Whereas, according to Prime Minister Pashinyan, Azerbaijani forces illegally 
        advanced into at least 10 square kilometers of Armenian territory;
Whereas, on the evening of September 14, 2022, Secretary of the Security Council 
        of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, announced that a ceasefire took hold;
Whereas Azerbaijan's latest attack on Armenian territory and the Armenian people 
        follows a long pattern of aggression, including during the 2020 Nagorno 
        Karabakh War, when an attack by Azerbaijani forces ignited a conflict 
        that killed more than 6,500 people and displaced almost 100,000 ethnic 
        Armenians;
Whereas Azerbaijan continues to hold at least 35 prisoners of war and 3 civilian 
        prisoners from the Nagorno Karabakh War and Azerbaijan's recent attack 
        on Armenia;
Whereas Azerbaijan's attack on Armenia, which was launched on September 13, 
        2022, is a flagrant violation of Armenia's sovereignty and territorial 
        integrity, and a violation of international law;
Whereas section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act (22 U.S.C. 5812 note) prohibits 
        United States assistance to Azerbaijan ``until the President determines, 
        and so reports to 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'';
Whereas title II of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related 
        Programs Appropriations Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-115) allows the 
        President to waive section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act under certain 
        statutorily defined conditions, including if doing so ``will not 
        undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement 
        between Armenia or Azerbaijan or be used for any offensive purposes 
        against Armenia'';
Whereas upon exercising such waiver, the President must submit a report to 
        appropriate congressional committees outlining--

    (1) ``the nature and quantity of all training and assistance provided 
to the Government of Azerbaijan pursuant to [the waiver],'';

    (2) ``the status of the military balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia 
and the impact of United States assistance on that balance''; and

    (3) ``the status of negotiations for a peaceful settlement between 
Armenia and Azerbaijan and the impact of United States assistance on those 
negotiations'';

Whereas, on March 2, 2022, the Government Accountability Office released a 
        report, which found that the Department of State and the Department of 
        Defense failed to meet certain statutory reporting requirements to 
        Congress, including the impact of proposed assistance on the military 
        balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia;
Whereas the Government Accountability Office found that the Department of State 
        and the Department of Defense did not document their consideration of 
        waiver requirements from fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2020, 
        including how the departments determined that assistance would not be 
        used for offensive purposes against Armenia; and
Whereas despite agreeing with the Government Accountability Office's 
        recommendations, the Department of State has not demonstrated how it 
        will adequately report to Congress on statutorily required 
        considerations for aid to Azerbaijan: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) condemns Azerbaijan's illegal and unprovoked attack on 
        Armenian territory;
            (2) urges Azerbaijan to fully adhere to the ceasefire 
        agreed to on September 14, 2022;
            (3) demands that Azerbaijan respect the territorial 
        integrity of Armenia;
            (4) calls for the release of all Armenian prisoners of war 
        and civilian prisoners held in Azerbaijan;
            (5) insists that the Department of State meet all 
        statutorily required reporting requirements for consideration 
        of United States assistance to Azerbaijan;
            (6) urges the Secretary of State to immediately halt all 
        security assistance to Azerbaijan;
            (7) urges the President to evaluate whether officials of 
        the Government of Azerbaijan should be subject to sanctions 
        under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 
        (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328) for human 
        rights abuses against ethnic Armenians; and
            (8) supports the robust provision of humanitarian 
        assistance to the people of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh 
        affected by Azerbaijan's war of aggression.
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