SFRC Chairman Menendez Remarks at Full Committee Hearing: “Assessing U.S. Policy in the Caucasus”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following opening remarks at this morning’s full Committee hearing entitled “Assessing U.S. Policy in the Caucasus.” Testifying before the Committee were the Honorable Karen Donfried, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, and the Honorable Philip Reeker, U.S. Department of State Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations.
“Too often, dictators with imperial aspirations have victimized those living in the South Caucasus. From Russian-backed aggression in Abkhazia or South Ossetia, to Turkish-supported Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia, their disregard for human life has been clear …. But incredibly … we are still sending security assistance to Azerbaijan. How on earth can the United States justify sending any kind of support—security or otherwise—to a regime in Baku?” The Chairman added. “It’s inexcusable. I personally think it is morally repugnant. And it makes a mockery of the FREEDOM Support Act.”
“The people of this region don’t want to live under the threat of violence. They don’t want autocratic rule, imposed on them by the barrel of a gun …. They deserve to live in peace. They deserve freedom and security,” Chairman Menendez said. “And that means ensuring that a peace deal does not lead to ethnic cleansing for the Armenia population of Nagorno-Karabakh. It means tackling the needs of the humanitarian crisis there. It means holding accountable those who order and carry out the violence we have seen in this region.”
Find a copy of Chairman Menendez’s remarks as delivered below.
“This hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will come to order.
Assistant Secretary Donfried and Ambassador Reeker – thank you for appearing before us today to talk about United States policy in the Caucasus.
This region is an ancient crossroads with deep geopolitical importance as a bridge between the West and the heart of Asia.
Too often, dictators with imperial aspirations have victimized those living in the South Caucasus.
From Russian-backed aggression in Abkhazia or South Ossetia, to Turkish-supported Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia, their disregard for human life has been clear.
In 2020, Azerbaijan’s war uprooted close to one-hundred-thousand Armenians from their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh. Sixty-five hundred people died.
Today, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, the land they know as Artsakh, still face an acute humanitarian crisis.
Including threats of ethnic cleansing and chronic shortages of water, energy, healthcare, and food.
That is why I’ve pushed for more humanitarian assistance to help the victims—both in Armenia and in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Because the U.S. humanitarian response has been, in my view, insufficient.
So today, I want to hear from you about what more we can do to help these affected areas.
But incredibly, it’s not just that the United States is failing to meet these humanitarian needs. We are still sending security assistance to Azerbaijan.
How on earth can the United States justify sending any kind of support—security or otherwise—to a regime in Baku?
It’s inexcusable. I personally think it is morally repugnant.
And it makes a mockery of the FREEDOM Support Act.
Section 907 of this act is meant to ban security assistance to Azerbaijan until Azerbaijan is quote ‘taking demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.’
And yet the Department of State has waived section 907 over and over again.
It requested $600,000 for fiscal year 2022 to provide Azerbaijan with International Military Education and Training.
A program meant to ‘provide a professional military education’ to countries selected by the Secretary of State.
Suffice it to say that I am strongly opposed to having any aid go to a fighting force known for war crimes and aggression against a neighbor state.
And the Department greenlit security assistance to the regime in Baku just months before it invaded Armenia in September.
Months before a video caught Azerbaijani forces killing unarmed Armenian soldiers in cold-blood.
Months before reports surfaced of Azerbaijani soldiers sexually assaulting and mutilating an Armenian female soldier.
The GAO report I commissioned to get to the bottom of this found both the Department of State and Department of Defense failed to meet statutory reporting requirements to Congress on this issue.
I’d like you to explain why.
It simply makes no sense to say that U.S. assistance and training has not impacted Azerbaijan’s military balance with Armenia.
So I want you to give us all the details Congress has asked for so we can assess any assistance the U.S. provides to Baku.
Finally I want to be clear—I still have hopes for a lasting peace in the region.
I know Secretary Blinken hosted Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers here in Washington last week.
I welcome senior level U.S engagement in this region.
The lack of attention to the Caucasus over successive administrations has only benefitted Russia’s interests so I appreciate this new approach.
I hope to hear from you about what more we could be doing for peace in the Caucasus and specifically following the recent attack on Armenia.
But I also remain skeptical that authoritarians in Baku, or Moscow, or Turkey for that matter, will agree to let the Armenian people choose their own destiny.
And it’s not just Armenia, but Georgia as well.
This is a nation with so much potential.
And yet today we see intimidation of independent media, arrests of opposition leaders, and continued efforts to block the very democratic reforms Georgia needs to advance on its Euro-Atlantic path.
The United States must remain engaged to support the democratic development of Georgia during this tenuous period.
And I look forward to hearing from the witnesses about these efforts.
The people of this region don’t want to live under the threat of violence.
They don’t want autocratic rule, imposed on them by the barrel of a gun.
No one wants to live that way. Not you. Not me.
Not the Armenian people.
Not the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.
They deserve to live in peace. They deserve freedom and security.
And that means ensuring that a peace deal does not lead to ethnic cleansing for the Armenia population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
It means tackling the needs of the humanitarian crisis there.
It means holding accountable those who order and carry out the violence we have seen in this region.
So I look forward to hearing from you today about where things stand with the Administration’s efforts to help facilitate a peace process and address these issues.”
These remarks have been edited lightly for clarity.
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