The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) issued a statement today announcing its opposition to the passage of H.R.5632 \u2013 \u201ca misguided measure that locks in Azerbaijan\u2019s genocidal actions, by normalizing its ethnic cleansing of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), while leaving out legitimate claims for redress concerning Artsakh refugees, Armenian hostages, Christian holy sites, and Azerbaijan\u2019s military occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The full text of the ANCA\u2019s statement is provided below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Armenian National Committee of America Statement Opposing H.R.5632<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe ANCA opposes passage of H.R.5632 \u2013 a misguided measure that locks in Azerbaijan\u2019s genocidal actions, by normalizing its ethnic cleansing of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), while leaving out legitimate claims for redress concerning Artsakh refugees, Armenian hostages, Christian holy sites, and Azerbaijan\u2019s military occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite sustained bipartisan calls from the Congressional Armenian Caucus, relentless advocacy by the Armenian American community and our coalition allies, and a constructive State Department letter (September 25, 2025) setting forth U.S. policy on these points, H.R.5362 manifestly fails to address:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1) Azerbaijan\u2019s illegal detention and abuse of Armenian hostages, civilian prisoners, and POWs; By narrowly defining aggression as only renewed acts of aggression, the bill implicitly endorses Azerbaijan\u2019s past aggression, effectively normalizing its genocide of Artsakh and continued occupation of Armenian territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bill also recklessly deems sanctionable \u201cany person\u201d who \u201cthwarts or undermines\u201d the peace process \u2013 without defining these terms. This vague provision risks stifling legitimate democratic discourse, including among Armenia\u2019s population and its civic, political, and spiritual institutions \u2013 among them leading figures in the Armenian Apostolic Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our Congress should be advancing a real peace \u2013 an enduring peace \u2013 based on justice, not legitimizing Azerbaijan\u2019s genocidal gains \u2013 rubber-stamping dangerous concessions forced upon Armenians by Azerbaijan at the point of a gun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) issued a statement today announcing its opposition to the passage of H.R.5632 \u2013 \u201ca misguided measure that locks in Azerbaijan\u2019s genocidal actions, by normalizing its ethnic cleansing of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), while leaving out legitimate claims for redress concerning Artsakh refugees, Armenian hostages, Christian holy sites, and Azerbaijan\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24018,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[126,382],"class_list":["post-24017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-anca","tag-382"],"yoast_head":"\n
2) The right of Artsakh refugees to return in a collective, internationally protected manner to their homes;
3) Azerbaijan\u2019s destruction of Christian heritage sites and civilian property; and
4) Azerbaijan\u2019s ongoing military occupation of sovereign Armenian territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n