Edward Livingston: “I am interested in some of the comments that have just transpired about this ominous lifting of section 907. It applied…”

“I am interested in some of the comments that have just transpired about this ominous lifting of section 907. It applied sanctions against one of what were two warring parties only a few short years ago, Azerbaijan versus Armenia. The fact of the matter is that these are both countries emerging from what was the Soviet Union, clearly they were at war with one another, and clearly in 1992 we levied sanctions on Azerbaijan, a Moslem country, while attempting to assist Armenia, an orthodox country, for legitimate reasons. Azerbaijan, by some reports, started the war, and there was a conflict that spread over a long period of time. People on both sides were killed; there was incredible devastation and misery reaped from that conflict, but Armenia won. Armenia moved over to help and Armenians took over Nagorno-Karabagh, expelling all of the Azeris. There are no Azeris in Nagorno-Karabagh. There are some 700,000 Azeri refugees in their own country, in Azerbaijan. Yet we still have the sanction imposed upon Azerbaijan by the United States which is supposed to be a neutral party. My friend who just preceded me said it is to help the oil companies. Is it to help the oil companies that we attempt to repeal section 907 which is a strenuous sanction on one of the parties but not the other? No. It is so that the United States can simply take a balanced view towards a very important strategic part of the world. Kazakhstan has tremendous oil supplies.…”