Peter Visclosky: “I offer a bipartisan amendment in conjunction with the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Bilirakis], the gentleman from…”

“I offer a bipartisan amendment in conjunction with the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Bilirakis], the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Kennedy], the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Durbin], and the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Smith]. Our amendment would narrow the authority of the President to provide U.S. economic assistance to countries found to be in violation of the U.S. Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act. The Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act was signed into law in 1995, prohibits foreign aid to any country that blockades the delivery of U.S. disaster relief supplies to a third country as that currently applies to the country of Turkey which, since April 1993, has blocked all U.S. disaster relief assistance and International Red Cross medical supplies bound for the landlocked country of Armenia. In addition to Turkey's ongoing blockade of humanitarian assistance to Romania, Turkey is continuing its illegal occupation of northern Cyprus, its internationally condemned war against the Kurds living in southeast Turkey, its persecution of Christians and its aggressive policy in the Aegean Sea which very nearly resulted in an armed confrontation with Greece earlier this year. The Clinton administration has failed to address these issues. In fact, last month President Clinton rejected clear congressional intent by waiving the application of the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act to Turkey.”