Report: $25 mln in U.S. aid to Karabakh unspent

Published: Thursday August 26, 2010

Graphic shows allocated (blue) and expended (red) funds. ANCA

Washington - Successive U.S. Administrations - both Democratic
and Republican - have, since Fiscal Year 1998, expended $25 million
less in aid to Nagorno Karabakh than Congress intended, according
to an Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) review showing
that less than $36 million of the $61 million slated by Congress
for this purpose has actually been expended.

"Armenian Americans are deeply appreciative to the U.S. Congress
for its vision and generosity in initiating U.S. aid to Nagorno
Karabakh, and for providing funding to help the people of Nagorno
Karabakh emerge from the crisis created by Azerbaijan's aggression,
meet pressing humanitarian needs, and, develop as a free society,"
said Ken Hachikian, Chairman of the ANCA. "It is precisely because
of our respect for the role of Congress and the vital aims that are
served by this aid that we are so troubled by the failure of
successive administrations to honor the clear intent of Congress
that this vital assistance program be properly funded and fully
implemented."

The ANCA's report - Legislative History of U.S. Assistance to
Nagorno Karabakh - is available online at:
http://www.anca.org/assets/pdf/misc/US_assistance_to_NKR.pdf

The decision by the U.S. Congress in 1997, over the formal
objections of the State Department, to start providing aid to
Nagorno Karabakh remains a constant target for vocal attacks by the
Azerbaijani government, which - both directly and through its
Washington lobbyists - seeks to block the appropriation of aid for
this purpose. Azerbaijani officials have argued, unsuccessfully,
that, as a matter of state sovereignty, any outside aid to the
people of Nagorno Karabakh must be approved by the Azerbaijani
government and channeled through Baku. U.S. legislators,
recognizing the political and the practical weaknesses of this
reasoning, sensitive to the considerable unmet needs in Karabakh,
and realizing the benefits of U.S. assistance to the search for
peace in the region, have, since Fiscal Year 1998, appropriated
direct aid for Nagorno Karabakh.

"Sadly, the same State Department which sought unsuccessfully to
prevent Congress from starting the Nagorno Karabakh aid program
back in the late 1990s, is still obstructing the clear will of
Congress by spending considerably less for this vital purpose than
Congressional appropriators intended," added Hachikian. "The State
Department's willful obstruction is all the more outrageous, given
the longstanding blockades by Turkey and Azerbaijan in violation of
international law. Apparently, the State Department is willing to
ignore the wishes of Congress and the needs of the people of
Nagorno Karabakh at the same time it supports weakening or
eliminating the Section 907 restriction on aid to Azerbaijan, a
country which continues to both make and, as it did as recently as
June 18th, act upon threats of renewed military aggression against
Nagorno Karabakh."

A conservatively estimated ANCA review of Congressional
appropriations legislation, reports, and legislative history from
Fiscal Year 1998 through Fiscal Year 2010 demonstrates an intent on
the part of U.S. House and Senate appropriators, during the history
of this aid program, to provide $61 million in assistance to
Nagorno Karabakh. In the interest of providing a cautious
estimate, the ANCA review did not reflect the clear objective of
legislators to provide additional allocations of aid to Nagorno
Karabakh in fiscal years 2000, 2001, and 2002. In the first two of
these three years, appropriators did not set a specific dollar
amount, but did indicate that Nagorno Karabakh should receive new
aid allocations based on a legislative formula that directed the
Administration to set aside a certain amount of funding to address
regional conflicts in the South Caucasus, "especially those in the
vicinity of Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh." In 2002,
appropriators, again, did not set a specific dollar amount, but did
call continued assistance to Nagorno Karabakh a "high priority."
Had such funds been included, they would likely have pushed the
Nagorno Karabakh aid total to more than $70 million.

In actual practice, based on figures provided by the State
Department's Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe
and Eurasia to the Congressional Research Service, the amount
allocated by the Clinton, Bush, and Obama Administrations to
Nagorno Karabakh between FY1998 and FY2010 was $35.77 million, more
than 41%, or fully $25.23 million less than the intent expressed by
Congress through legislation and legislative reports. (Source of
actual allocations: Congressional Research Service, "Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Political Developments and Implications
for U.S. Interests: Table 2. U.S. Humanitarian Assistance to
Nagorno Karabakh," June 30, 2010.)

The Administration's shortfall in spending on Nagorno Karabakh was
acknowledged by Matthew Bryza, President Obama's nominee to serve
as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, during his July 22, 2010
confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
During this hearing, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) noted that the
U.S. Congress has consistently appropriated aid to Nagorno
Karabakh, including $8 million in each of the past two fiscal
years. She added that: "According to the Congressional Research
Service, only about $2 million was spent in Nagorno Karabakh each
year," then asked: "Do you think that is accurate? And why wasn't
the full amount spent?" Bryza responded, stating: "Based on my
knowledge of assistance programs, I believe it is accurate that
around $2 million of the $8 million appropriated was spent." Video
of the full exchange on this matter is available on the on the ANCA
website:
http://www.anca.org/press_releases/press_releases.php?prid=1913

Approximately $12 million of the $25 million shortfall in aid to
Nagorno Karabakh is the result of under-spending by the Obama
Administration during its first two years in office.