U.S. - Armenia Relationship
Congressman Sherman Working to Strengthen U.S. Armenia Ties:
“As a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, I have focused on recognizing the Armenian Genocide, recognizing the massacre of Armenian civilians in Sumgait, increasing funding to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, and increasing military training aid for Armenia despite attempts by the administration to increase aid only to Azerbaijan,” said Sherman. “Additionally, I am working to protect the rights of Christian communities and churches in Turkey. I am also pressing the State Department to scrutinize the license of Export-Import Bank’s financing of the Azersat satellite which may possibly give the Azeri government the capacity to jam Armenian communications or survey Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Sherman Presses Administration on U.S. Assistance to Armenia
Since 1993, Congress has provided approximately $2 billion in assistance to Armenia. This funding has helped Armenia make the transition from communism to a free market economy, build democratic institutions, and provide for the needs of the Armenian people.
Sherman has worked for years to fight for an increase in foreign assistance to Armenia. In 2009, Sherman was active in securing $41 million in assistance to Armenia.
In the President's most recent budget request, he called for $40 million in assistance to Armenia. Sherman is supporting efforts to secure additional funds for assistance to Armenia.
Opposing Armenia's Exclusion from Regional Integration
The U.S. should actively oppose any efforts to exclude Armenia from regional integration. That is why Sherman has supported blocking any U.S. assistance for an ill-conceived railroad that links Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey while deliberately excluding Armenia.
Azeri President Aliyev was blunt about his intentions with regard to this project. He said, "If we succeed with this [railroad], the Armenians will end in complete isolation, which could create an additional problem for their future, their already bleak future…" Sherman is working to make sure that not one cent of American taxpayer money is used to support this fundamentally anti-Armenian and anti-American effort.
Supporters of this ill-conceived railroad could potentially turn to two U.S. government agencies for assistance: the Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. In 2006, Sherman joined his colleagues in the House Financial Services Committee in passing into law an amendment that prohibits one of these agencies, the Export-Import Bank, from supporting the anti-Armenian railroad.
Armenian Genocide Resolution Passes Committee by 1 Vote
In a 23 to 22 vote, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed House Resolution 252 in March 2010, officially recognizing Armenian Genocide.
Congressman Sherman believes it is high time that the Armenia Genocide Resolution is passed by Congress and that the House Foreign Affairs Committee's passage is a major step toward final passage.
To view Congressman Sherman's opening statement please click below.
More on U.S. - Armenia Relationship
Sherman Oaks - Congressman Sherman commemorated the Armenian Genocide at the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Canoga Park. Congressman Sherman was the keynote speaker at an assembly for students, staff and parents to commemorate the 99th anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th century.
Sherman remarked that “genocide denial is the last step in a genocide, the first step of the next genocide.”
WASHINGTON, DC — Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA) released the following statement on the unprovoked killing of an Armenian soldier, Hrant Poghosyan, by Azerbaijani forces along the border of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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Canoga Park, CA – Today, Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) addressed over 100 high school students inside the auditorium at Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Manoogian Demirdjian School, in Canoga Park. Sherman has routinely hosted town hall meetings for high school students during his time in Congress.
WASHINGTON – In a 23 to 22 vote, the House Foreign Relations Committee passed House Resolution 252, officially recognizing Armenian Genocide.
“If we hope to stop future genocides we need to admit to those horrific acts of the past. When Hitler had to convince his cohorts that the world would let them get away with it, he turned to them and said, ‘Who today speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians?’,” said Sherman. “The last act of any genocide is genocide denial, and the first act of preventing the next genocide is to acknowledge past acts of genocide.”
Washington, D.C. - A House panel on Wednesday voted to block the Export-Import Bank of the United States from funding a proposed railroad that would link Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan while bypassing Armenia.
The Export-Import bank is the federal government agency that helped finance the ill-conceived Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline to transport crude oil from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.
Washington, D.C. - The House International Relations Committee on Thursday adopted a pair of resolutions calling on Turkey to acknowledge the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I.
œIt is long past time for us to criticize the Ottoman Empire for the first genocide of the 20th century, said Congressman Brad Sherman, a member of the prestigious panel.