Wendy Sherman: “Mr. Chairman, I rise to talk about the part of this bill that repeals Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. This is a…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise to talk about the part of this bill that repeals Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. This is a critically important part of the appropriations bill. It has been addressed by half of the speakers that have come to speak about the bill in general. The Armenian National Committee and the Armenian Assembly, the 2 largest Armenian organizations, the predominant Armenian organizations, have put out a statement saying that for Armenian Americans, this is the most important vote of this Congress. As a member of the Committee on International Relations, I feel more than a little concerned that such a substantive provision has been stuck in an appropriations bill. A provision that deals with an area that our committee had hearings on, our committee decided not to try to change this year, and then the Committee on Appropriations tries to change it. If one believes that substantive changes should be made by authorizing committees, if one believes that American foreign policy should reflect American values, then I hope my colleagues will vote for the Radanovich-Pallone-Rogan-Sherman amendment to this bill and delete those provisions that try to play havoc with American foreign policy in the Caucasus.”