WPRI: Amo’s first bill targets Azerbaijan over treatment of Armenians

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Rhode Island’s newest member of Congress is wading into foreign policy with his first major legislative initiative.

Democratic Congressman Gabe Amo is one of four lead sponsors of the Armenian Protection Act, a bipartisan measure introduced last month that would stop U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan as punishment for its efforts to drive ethnic Armenians out of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, also known as Artsakh.

“We must send a clear message to the government of Azerbaijan and our partners around the globe that the United States will not stand for unprovoked attacks on the Armenian people,” Amo said in a statement. “We cannot allow the government of Azerbaijan to get a free pass for their brutal military aggression and blockades against the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

“I am proud to support this bipartisan legislation to show that the United States stands with the people of Armenia,” he said.

Amo, who won a special election to replace David Cicilline last November, has been working to gain expertise on international issues after being given Cicilline’s old seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He traveled to the high-profile Munich Security Conference last month.

President Biden and his three predecessors have all granted Azerbaijan a waiver to continue receiving military aid, a policy that dates back to the fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. But support for the country in Washington has grown shakier due to its treatment of Armenians.

The Armenian Protection Act’s other lead sponsors in the House are New York Republican Mike Lawler, one of Amo’s fellow freshmen, as well as New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone and Florida Republican Gus Bilirakis. A Senate version of the measure passed unanimously last fall.

“Over 100,000 Armenians were targeted, abused, and displaced by the government of Azerbaijan when they fled Nagorno-Karabakh in recent months,” Lawler said in a statement. “There is no question of Azerbaijan’s aggression, yet President Biden has continued to turn a blind eye. It’s simply unacceptable for the U.S. to be funding Azerbaijan’s campaign against the Armenian people.”

Rhode Island’s congressional delegation has long been pro-Armenian. Last fall, prior to Amo’s election, U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressman Seth Magaziner were among the lead authors of a letter to the Biden administration urging that the U.S. impose sanctions on Azerbaijani officials.