Freedom Support Act—Conference Report

Senate - October 01, 1992

Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I fully endorse the conference report on the Freedom Support Act [FSA] and would like to clarify, for the record, the purpose of the section placing conditions on United States assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan.

This section of the conference report is a modified version of a provision that I first offered in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As accepted by the Conference Committee, the provision prohibits assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan unless and until the President determines, and so reports to Congress, that Azerbaijan `is taking demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabach'.

I feel it necessary to clarify the purpose of this provision because the term `demonstrable steps' is not self-defining and because the Bush administration position on the provision has flip-flopped since the Senate first approved it.

I want to make it clear, first of all, that a major change from current policies and practices will be required if the Azeri Government is to meet the condition in the bill. It is not my intention, as sponsor of the language, and I am sure it is not the intention of the Senate, that this provision be dismissed or taken lightly by the President. By `demonstrable steps', we do not mean words, we mean actions, and those actions must reflect a sustained commitment on the part of the Azeri Government to end the violence in Nagorno-Karabach and to lift permanently the blockades against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabach.

Unfortunately, Azeri policies appear at the moment to be headed in precisely the wrong direction. The blockade against Armenia remains in place and Azerbaijan military forces have been fighting for months to close the humanitarian Lachin corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabach. Just this past week, moreover, Azerbaijan launched a major offensive against the Armenian minority in Nagorno-Karabach, including the bombing of residential districts in Stepankert. As a result of the recent violence, an additional 50,000 refugees have been forced to flee to Armenia, bringing the total to more than 300,000 since the fighting began.

Any perception that Azerbaijan is without fault for the continued violence is rebutted by reports from Azerbaijan, itself. Only a few days ago, Azeri television reported that: `The Azerbaijani Armed Forces have conducted yet another successful military operation. The Fizuli subunits of the national army, having launched an advance, liberated the city of Martuni * * * as well as

the Khodzhaven settlement. Simultaneously, our valiant fighters occupied the two strategically important heights of Koynekhtepe and Kyultepe and one other Armenian post in the direction of Gadrut. As a result of this operation, 5 tanks and 7 guns were destroyed and more than 200 enemy soldiers were killed. Operations continue on other fronts, as well.'

Meanwhile, Armenian President Ter-Petrosyan continues to call for a normalization of relations with Azerbaijan and for cooperation in economic and political development. Armenia has renounced any territorial claims against Azerbaijan, expressed strong support for a ceasefire within Nagorno-Karabach and for discussions between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabach to settle peacefully the latter's status. Armenia also remains willing to discuss directly with Azerbaijan the means by which the two republics might achieve lasting peace and stability within the region.

As I said at the time the Freedom Support Act was first approved by the Senate, `It should not be United States policy, and it is not the intent behind the language in this bill, that the United States side with one party or the other in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabach. It is not we who will have to live with the outcome of that conflict. Nor do we wish to encourage other outside powers to intervene. Our neutrality, however, does not extend to the issue of principle. We are not neutral about abduction torture or murder. We are not neutral about blockades designed to starve out poipulations. We are not neutral about mortarfire and shelling that kill indiscriminately. And we are not neutral about the issue of whether disputes over territory and self-determination ought to be settled through peaceful negotiation rather than violence'.

At the time I made that statement, the Bush administration was on record in support of placing conditions on assistance to Azerbaijan. On June 10, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the provision now in the conference report had the support of the administration.

During deliberations of the conference committee, however, the administration reversed field 180 degrees and urged that the language, approved by both the House and Senate, be dropped. The refusal of the conferees to remove or weaken the language stands, therefore, as a strong expression of congressional intent. Upon enactment of this legislation, the law of the land will clearly bar any United States aid or other benefits under this bill from going to Azerbaijan unless the government of that country makes a sustained and demonstrable commitment to cease its economic and military aggression against its neighbor and to seek a just and peaceful resolution of the crisis in Nagorno-Karabach.