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Congressional Armenian Caucus founding Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) on Thursday joined with senior House Foreign Affairs Committee member Brad Sherman (D-CA) and their colleagues in the leadership of the Armenian Caucus in rolling out new bi-partisan legislation – supported by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) – aimed at breaking Azerbaijan’s brutal 45-day blockade of 120,000 indigenous Christian Armenians living in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), ANCA reported.

“Armenian and allied Americans welcome news of a targeted anti-blockade resolution, and are already hard at work alongside our local chapters, activists, and coalition partners in Congressional Districts across the country building bipartisan consensus around urgent enforcement of concrete costs on Azerbaijan for ethnic-cleansing Armenians,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Join our grassroots movement now, by taking action at anca.org/resolution.”

In a letter to Congressional colleagues encouraging them to cosponsor the anti-blockade resolution, Rep. Pallone explained, “The Aliyev regime is taking premediated steps to remove the indigenous Armenian population from Artsakh and deprive them of the opportunity to live freely, democratically, and with dignity in the land of their ancestors – a clear sign of ethnic cleansing that we cannot ignore.” Rep. Pallone asserted, “The United States must act immediately and use every diplomatic tool available to reopen the corridor before this humanitarian crisis becomes catastrophic.”

Joining Representatives Pallone and Sherman as early supporters of the anti-blockade resolution are Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-chairs Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and David Valadao (R-CA). Pro-Artsakh advocates are using the ANCA action portal – anca.org/resolution – to encourage broad-based support for the effort;

In addition to forcefully condemning Azerbaijan’s actions, the soon to be introduced resolution would place the U.S. House of Representatives on record in favor of five practical remedies to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Artsakh caused by Azerbaijan’s blockade of food, medicine, and other vital necessities:

1) U.S. leadership in rallying the global community to petition international and multinational courts to investigate Azerbaijani war crimes.

2) U.S. cooperation with international partners, including Artsakh authorities, in securing the deployment of international observers to the Lachin Corridor.

3) Presidential action to immediately suspend any U.S. military or security assistance to Azerbaijan, and to enforce Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act

4) Presidential enforcement of statutory sanctions authority against Azerbaijani officials responsible for the blockade of Artsakh and other human rights violations

5) A robust program of sustained U.S. humanitarian relief and longer-term development assistance to the Armenian victims of Azerbaijani aggression in Artsakh.and the Congressional Armenian Caucus leadership are spearheading a bi-partisan resolution to break the brutal blockade that oil-rich Azerbaijan put in place on December 11th against the 120,000 Christian Armenians living in their indigenous Artsakh homeland.