The House Appropriations Subcommittee has maintained robust aid levels to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh despite ongoing overall reductions to former Soviet states, the Armenian Assembly of America reported. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, which lawmakers passed by voice vote, calls for $67.5 million for Armenia, up to $5 million for Nagorno Karabakh and maintains military assistance parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan with $5.75 million allocated to each country. The level of funding for Armenia is $12.5 million above the Bush Administration’s request submitted to Congress earlier this year. The overall request level is part of a continued trend that reflects a serious drop in US assistance to the former Soviet states – specifically from $555 million in FY 2005 to $477 million for FY 2006. Today’s action also allocated $5 million in Foreign Military Financing and $750,000 for International Military Education and Training to both Armenia and Azerbaijan, as requested by the Bush Administration. These funds will improve inter-operability between Armenia’s military and its Western partners, upgrade Armenia’s communication systems and better its personnel training. The bill will next be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee. Once the full House and Senate complete action on their version of the bill, a joint House-Senate Conference Committee will reconcile the differences.
ԻմPANը
