Rep. Adam Schiff is calling on his U.S. Congressional colleagues to join him in demanding that the Commerce Department explain why it is considering licensing the sale of high-powered U.S. rifles to Azerbaijan, in the face of Azerbaijan’s 125+ day blockade of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and ongoing attacks on Armenia, which left four Armenians dead and six injured just last week, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

In a “Dear Colleague” letter to U.S. House members, Rep. Schiff is urging his colleagues to co-sign a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo seeking “additional information from the Commerce Department about the status of any requests for export licenses to send lethal weapons to Azerbaijan and safeguards to prevent U.S. weapons from being used in the commission of human rights violations.”

Rep. Schiff stated, “approving the export of more lethal weapons to be pointed at Armenia would only fuel conflict, especially in the hands of security forces with a history of human rights violations. The State Department’s 2022 Human Rights Report documents ‘credible reports of unlawful killings involving summary executions of Armenian soldiers in Azerbaijani custody,’ torture, and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment with high levels of impunity.”

Members of Congress have until Friday to co-sign the letter to Secretary Raimondo.

News of a possible sale of U.S. rifles—including assault-style and semi-automatic sniper models—to Azerbaijan broke on February 1 when Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced his “deep concern and strong opposition” to the proposed sale.

“The export of weapons to an authoritarian country that wages war against a neighbor, blockades a vulnerable population, and commits rampant human rights violations at home is not consistent with the Administration’s commitment to democracy and human rights,” Sen. Menendez stated in a letter to Secretary Raimondo. “Further, the consideration of this export license further compounds my dismay that the Administration continues to allow the export of assault-style and sniper rifles abroad – even while supporting an assault-style rifle ban domestically – and deepens my reservations about the Department of Commerce having jurisdiction over such exports,” concluded Senator Menendez.