So, in the new American parliament consisting of 535 posts, the Armenians will have at least 150 advocates. 114 reelected congressmen, 27 newly elected legislators and 10 senators. Most of them will become members of the Armenian group which will enlarge. Among those who are going to become members of the group there are lots of rather well-known politicians able to influence on the course of the governing party.
One of them is Elizabeth Doul, the former head of the American Red Cross, former Minister of Transport and Labor, former assistant to the President Reigan, former presidential contender. She is the wife of Bob Doul, the leader of the Republican majority in the former Congress, who represented his party at the elections of 1996. (Presently Doul heads the Council of the Lincy Foundation of Development of Armenian Economy). Ex-senator Doul and his wife are known as reliable partners of the Armenian lobbyists and the followers of recognition of the fact of the Armenian genocide. It’s evident that the fact that Elizabeth Doul is in Congress, will have a positive effect on the positions of the Armenian group. Especially if taking into account her prestige among the republicans which from now on will control the majority in the both houses.
Shortly, the American Armenians may celebrate victory. It is evident that in the coming two months they will have supporters in the American parliament. During the last years the number of congressmen cooperating with Armenian lobbyist organizations increases significantly.
In the former structure of the congress the Armenian group counted only 97 members. Today they are 125. It’s interesting that some congressmen have expressed their will to become members of the group right on the eve of the elections taken place on Sunday. For example, the members of the House of Representatives, Jo Wilson and John Coners decided to register officially their relations with the Armenian lobby, the participation of which in the elections sometimes is rather deciding. The results of the voting proved that the congressmen were right – they maintained their mandates with the help of the Armenian structures. We’ll note that the both co-chairmen of the Armenian group, Joe Knollenberg and Frank Pallone were also reelected.
There is an interesting process taking place in the Armenian group recently. Part of the members of the group is ready to go ahead with the aims and objectives declared 7 years ago when the group was being founded. 46 congressmen recently signed under a message addressed to the NKR President where in fact the sovereignty of the Nagorno Karabakhg was being recognized. So, we can speak about existence of two levels of membership in the group. The first one are the congressmen fighting for recognition of the fact of the Armenian genocide, increase in financing of humanitarian programs in Armenia, removal of the blockade; and the second level are those who are trying to achieve the recognition of the independence of Karabakh and the necessity to restart the sanctions against Azerbaijan. There are basis to hope that after the elections both levels will broaden.
The strengthening of the positions of the pro-Armenian forces in the both houses of the Congress is very important as in the nearest future series of problems presenting key importance for Armenia will be discussed. Among them is the discussion of providing the President with the right to prolong the temporal veto on the 907th section [of the Freedom Support Act] and the issue of prohibition of the draft law urging the European Union to accept Turkey in the European Union submitted by the administration. New discussions of the realization of direct aid to the Nagorno Karabakh are also expected. In all these issues the members of the Armenian group are very decisive.
During the last year the partners of Armenian lobbyists have bees several times obliged to retreat under the strong pressing of the White House. After September 11th the group had nothing else to do but to stop insisting on maintenance of sanctions towards Azerbaijan. As a result the section 907 to the Freedom Support Act was temporarily stopped. Lacking only 4 votes, the Armenian group couldn’t pass the draft law prohibiting the participation of American companies in the financing of the construction of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. Despite the support of 250 legislators, who with their signatures proved their availability to vote for recognition of the fact of the genocide of 1915, the so-called “Armenian resolution” was withdrawn from the schedule. It seems that soon these failures will end. The pro-Armenian congressmen are convinced that they will be able to justify the hopes of their partners.
