Frank Pallone: “A special thanks to Chairman Smith and his team for their tireless work on this bill and for including several important…”

“A special thanks to Chairman Smith and his team for their tireless work on this bill and for including several important amendments that seek justice for the thousands of Armenians killed in Azerbaijan's deadly, unprovoked war in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss an important bipartisan amendment that would prohibit the President from selling or exporting next-generation F-16 fighter Jets and F-16 modernization kits to Turkey unless he goes through a rigorous certification process with Congress. It is necessary, because the administration has ignored strong and consistent congressional opposition to the sale since it was first proposed last fall by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan continues to prioritize short-term personal gain above the collective good of his NATO allies, and allowing the sale to go through would be a major mistake. He has done the bare minimum to bolster NATO's strategic posture since Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered the largest crisis the NATO alliance has faced in decades. This destabilizing behavior is evident in his recent efforts to block Finland and Sweden from joining NATO until he received absurd and unrelated concessions. The Turkish military also has conducted dangerous and provocative violations of Greek and Cypriot sovereign territory and reportedly is planning a major offensive in Syria that could endanger countless innocent lives.…”