WASHINGTON, DC – A key U.S. House panel responsible for foreign aid voted today to approve $44 million in economic aid to Armenia - a figure $4 million less than the $48 million the same body adopted last year, but $4 million more than the amount proposed earlier this year in President Obama's budget request to Congress, Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reports.

Significantly, the measure adopted today by the Subcommittee rejects attempts by President Obama to tilt the balance in U.S. military aid in favor of Azerbaijan. The panel chose, instead, to maintain parity in Foreign Military Financing at $3.5 million and International Military Education and Training allocations, at $450,000, to Yerevan and Baku.

Reports from sources close to this process report that the panel, which is led by longtime Armenian American issues supporter Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), voted, once again, to increase the ceiling on direct U.S. assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh, approving language calling on the Administration to spend up to $10 million for programs in Artsakh.

"We appreciate the role that Chairwoman Lowey and Adam Schiff, Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Mark Kirk, Steve Rothman, and our other friends on the Subcommittee played in seeking to constructively address our community's foreign aid priorities," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "While we remain troubled by the downward trend in overall aid appropriated by Congress to Armenia over the past decade, we are gratified that the panel rejected President Obama's attempt to break military aid parity, and for setting a target of $10 million in aid to Nagorno-Karabakh.  We will, in the coming days, work with our friends on the Senate side to seek to zero-out aid to Azerbaijan, support Nagorno-Karabakh’s return to direct participation in the peace process, break down barriers to U.S.-Nagorno-Karabakh dialogue, and increase the level of aid to Armenia."