US Congress refused to consider anti-Azerbaijani amendments - the failure of the Armenian lobby in Washington

The U.S. House of Representatives will not vote on the anti-Azerbaijani amendments that our old “acquaintances,” Congressmen Frank Pallone and Gus Bilirakis, attempted to push through.

The package of amendments was rejected by the Congressional Rules Committee.

Bilirakis and Pallone tried to introduce two amendments targeting Azerbaijan during a plenary session of the House of Representatives.

The first amendment, as the congressmen and their Armenian sponsors had hoped, would have required the Secretary of Defense to “annually certify that Azerbaijan is taking significant steps to recognize Armenia’s sovereignty.”

The second amendment aimed to restrict the U.S. President’s authority to waive Section 907 sanctions on Azerbaijan until "Baku ceases destabilizing the South Caucasus, including releasing Armenian prisoners of war, withdrawing its forces from Armenian territory, and ensuring the protection of Armenian cultural heritage within its borders."

Even a quick glance at these amendments is enough to understand their true origin and intent.

Apparently, the Congressional Rules Committee thought the same — and simply discarded the amendments, while implicitly inviting Pallone and Bilirakis to extend warm regards to their Armenian sponsors.

One doesn't need to be a seasoned diplomat to realize that these amendments could have caused serious harm to U.S.–Azerbaijan relations and further destabilized the South Caucasus.

Thanks to the rational decision of the Rules Committee, the Armenian lobby in Washington has suffered a significant reputational blow.

The influence of ANCA and other Armenian lobbying groups in the United States continues to decline toward zero.