WASHINGTON, D.C. - The State Department has officially welcomed proposals by U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY) and more than 80 of their House colleagues to check Azerbaijan's escalating aggression, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The Department's support for the Royce-Engel peace proposals comes during a year that has already seen 40 Armenians killed by the Azerbaijani military -- 4 just last week. Earlier in the day, Azerbaijani Minister of Defense, Zakir Hasanov, publicly pledged renewed anti-Armenian aggression, stating "we are going to inflict even more devastating attacks."

In the November 12th State Department response to the Royce-Engel letter, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Julia Frifield explained: "The United States supports proposals to withdraw snipers, expand OSCE's role via an OSCE investigation mechanism and deploy sensors along the line of contact and the Armenia-Azerbaijan international border. [...] Without a mechanism to verify ceasefire allegations, or sensors to pinpoint the location of gunfire, it is difficult for the Co-chairs to make specific accusations against one side's use of force."

Armenia and the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh have agreed to all three provisions advanced in the Royce-Engel letter. The Obama Administration and the OSCE also support these initiatives. Only Azerbaijan opposes their implementation.

As reported earlier, Congressmen Ed Royce and Eliot Engel had urged their government not to turn a blind eye to Azerbaijani aggression.