Frank Pallone: “this evening, the Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations is marking up the fiscal year 1997 appropriations…”

“this evening, the Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations is marking up the fiscal year 1997 appropriations bill for our international assistance and export financing programs. Yet, ironically, we just learned yesterday that President Clinton has waived one of the most important provisions in the fiscal year 1996 Foreign Operations bill: the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act. The Corridor Act, which was included in the fiscal year '96 bill with broad bipartisan support, prohibits U.S. assistance of any kind from going to a country that impedes the delivery of humanitarian aid to a third country. I think most Americans would just assume that such a basic condition would apply to any recipient of U.S. aid, but it isn't. Mr. Speaker, this legislation is really targeted at the Republic of Turkey, which has maintained a cruel and illegal blockade of neighboring Armenia for the past 3 years. This blockade has prevented the delivery of food, medicine and other humanitarian relief supplies-- much of it originating in the United States--from reaching Armenia.”