Floor Statements

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, throughout my more than 30 years in Congress, I have pushed our Nation to stand up for human rights around the world. Why?

Because to me it is an essential component of our foreign policy, a hallmark of both Democratic and Republican administrations, and a cornerstone of American leadership on the international stage.

Now, some may ask why I do this in the face of pressing global challenges. Why speak out for what is right even when it is not popular? It is simple. When we guard against genocide, when we prevent ethnic cleansing, when we speak out against atrocities, we uphold America's standing as a global force for good.

And we recognize that countries that observe the human rights of its people are less likely to create conflict with other countries. However, when the United States fails to carry out this responsibility, when we turn a blind eye in order to suit other interests, then we do irreversible damage to our moral authority and our ability to stand up for human rights worldwide.

Moreover, we allow malign actors like China and Russia, Turkey and Iran to fill the void and expand their influence. What I am describing isn't some hypothetical scenario--no. In fact, it is happening right now.

As I speak on the Senate floor, the ancient Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh has been hollowed out by a brutal Azerbaijani regime, one that is hell-bent on erasing them off of the map. For months, we have seen this humanitarian crisis unfold in slow motion. First, it was the Azeri blockade of the Lachin corridor, a blatant violation of the 2020 ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. As the only road in and out of the Karabakh Mountains, Azerbaijan's blockade of Lachin corridor effectively cut off the flow of people, food, medicine, and basic supplies.

It went on for months, even as Russian peacekeeping forces-- supposedly there to enforce the ceasefire--stood idly by. In this way, Azerbaijan's Government carried out an intention campaign of suffering and starvation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

With the corridor blocked, shelves cleared out. Fuel shortages prevented ambulances from responding to emergencies. Rolling blackouts kept hospitals from performing basic procedures, and studies found out that 1 out of every 3 deaths in the region was from malnutrition alone, with children waiting in line for bread in order to feed family members who were too weak to leave the house.

By July, the Azeri Government was denying even the Red Cross from access to the region. And in blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions, Azerbaijan began detaining medical patients who were being transported through the corridor for treatment. Make no mistake, the 10-month Lachin corridor blockade was part of a diabolic plot to force the Armenian enclave to submit. That isn't just my firm belief. It is also the conclusion of the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo.

In a report calling on the global community to recognize the blockade as a genocide, he said:

There are no crematories and no machete attacks. Starvation

is the invisible genocide weapon. Without immediate dramatic

change, this group of Armenians will be destroyed in a few

weeks.

He wrote those words on August 8, over 3 months ago. What we have seen since then has been nothing short of barbaric. On September 19, Azerbaijan launched a full-scale invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh. The next day, President Aliyev delivered a televised address from Baku stating and speaking of his ``iron fist'' and declaring that ``Karabakh is Azerbaijan.''

It was a harbinger of things to come. After quickly overwhelming Armenian forces, the Azeri army seized control of the region and forced the local government to capitulate at gunpoint. Azerbaijan pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians, but after decades of violence, repression, and broken promises, those in harm's way knew better.

Of the estimated 120,000 residents in the region, which we call Artsakh, more than 100,000 fled their ancestral homes. On-the-ground reports of this forced exodus are brutal. Buses were packed to the rim with refugees clinging to the very few items they could carry. Journeys as long as 40 hours were documented on the only mountain road leading into Armenia.

And among the exhausted and suffering Armenian refugees, nearly all were deprived of food and medicine as they hurriedly fled their homes. The Armenian Health Minister announced that some people, including elderly patients, died on the journey, and it is no surprise really when you consider the eyewitness account of a health clinic director in the Armenian border city of Goris.

According to him, most of the patients that they treated at a health clinic on the border were ``cases of malnourishment, dehydration, people who'd been unable to take prescriptions because they simply didn't have access after being on the road for two or three days.''

The clinic treated these patients as well as others suffering from bullet wounds and broken limbs, bruises consistent with beatings, and hundreds of cases of shrapnel injuries, some of which required amputation.

If this is not evidence of human rights abuses, then what is? Make no mistake, this year alone, the Armenian people have suffered through a 10-month siege, a lightning military campaign that killed hundreds of civilians, and the forced departure of tens of thousands of residents from their homes.

These refugees need our help, and they need it now. With temperatures poised to drop during the brutal winter months in the mountainous region, these newly displaced refugees will need food, shelter, warm clothes, and essential services like healthcare.

They will need assistance as they try to pick up the pieces that were shattered in the frantic rush to flee. And they will need long-term support in the midst of a chronic housing crisis in Yerevan that prices many families out of the capital city.

The United States can--and it should--fill this need with clothing and blankets, energy assistance, and other humanitarian aid.

To those who point to the acute suffering currently going on around the world, particularly in the Middle East, I ask you this: Should we be in the business of picking and choosing which humanitarian crises we respond to?

Whether it is Palestinians being used as human shields by Hamas or Armenians forced to leave the only homes they have ever known, should we ever ignore the human suffering of those crying out for help?

To me, it is a false choice to support aid for refugees in some circumstances but not others. America has to continue to show up for displaced individuals everywhere they are found, especially as we defend human rights wherever they are violated.

Above all, we must continue to press for accountability when it comes to those who violate human rights. Wherever assaults are launched without warning or provocation, whether it is Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine, Azerbaijan's invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh, or Hamas's barbaric terrorist attack on Israel, we have to stand with our allies as they seek justice for victims in a way that upholds human rights and follows the laws of war.

The eyes of the world are watching as the United States responds to these conflicts. And as we have done so many times before, we must leverage our position as a moral authority for good in order to deliver necessary aid to the affected regions.

As I have said, human rights are a central tenet of our foreign policy. We cannot afford to lose sight of that in this moment, which is why we must continue to raise the plight of Nagorno-Karabakh in the Halls of Congress. This cannot be a forgotten genocide as so many others have been throughout history. We cannot lose sight of the task at hand, which is to stand in the breach and address the Azeri threat before it presses its advantage and seeks to seize more territory. That is right, more territory.

President Aliyev has openly stated he would like to ``unite'' his country with its exclave in Nakhchivan by cutting through sovereign Armenian territory.

The potential catastrophe that that could set off cannot be overstated. The last thing we need in this region is further conflict between two states that share their borders with Iran and Turkey.

Therefore, I submit to my colleagues that our top priority must be to stand in the breach and address the threats that Armenia continues to face before tensions, again, spiral out of control. We must invoke the language of what has happened here in terms of genocide, vowing to never forget the horrific actions that Azerbaijan carried out in its ruthless campaign.

I, for one, will not stop or rest until a full accounting of Azeri atrocities is completed. I will continue to oppose any and all military aid to Azerbaijan in light of their horrific human rights record. And the Biden administration should not be using the waiver authority it has to give Azerbaijan U.S. military assistance.

And I will make sure that what happened in Nagorno-Karabakh is never forgotten by the powers that be.

Many of my colleagues will recall a previous instance when the moral line between right and wrong was so clear. It was during our successful effort to recognize the Armenian genocide after more than 100 years of equivocation and denials. That resolution did not come about in a single day. It did not come about in just one Congress. When I was a Member of the House of Representatives, I helped introduce these resolutions every single Congress, and when I came to the Senate, I introduced them every single year as well until it finally passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in December of 2019.

That victory, that long-awaited moment, was the result of years--if not decades--of dogged advocacy until justice was finally achieved.

I will never forget then, and I will never forget now. And in this same spirit, we cannot let this crisis fade from the memory.

In the same way that we remember the millions of Armenians who were ruthlessly slaughtered by the Ottoman Empire, so, too, must we remember the lives lost in Nagorno-Karabakh and the tens of thousands of refugees who have been forced from their homes. We have to stand in solidarity with them today, tomorrow, and every day going forward. We must end our support for the Azeri Government that perpetuated this assault, and we must sanction all those responsible for carrying out these despicable crimes against humanity.

That, I believe, is the task before us in the Senate. It is a goal we must commit to if we are to shine as a beacon of hope for oppressed peoples around the world, to be that moral voice of clarity as it relates to human rights.

You can't pick and choose, and so this is a moment to make sure that we stand up for those who have had their human rights ultimately denied as a result of the Azeri Government, who were forced out of their historic homes and now face the challenges of a bitter winter.

We can make that bitter winter better.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time on the Gilbride nomination be considered expired at 5:15 p.m.

Mr. President, the eyes of the world are watching to see how we react to the terrorist attack Israel has suffered. Days after Hamas launched a horrific assault, kidnapping nearly 200, killing over 1,000, and injuring thousands more, the world is watching with bated breath.

Scenes of Hamas's evil are seared into our collective conscience. The images are indelible: Israelis slaughtered by marauding thugs, concertgoers shot in the back in broad daylight, people butchered, women raped, even infants murdered in cold blood. The barbaric atrocities are an affront to humankind itself. In the face of unspeakable evil, we must not mince words. We must not waiver in our resolve. Every single one of us in this Chamber has a moral responsibility to speak out unequivocally and unapologetically as we stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel and her people.

Now, I have been staunchly devoted to this cause for 31 years in Congress. Why? Because the bond between our nations is sacrosanct. In 1948, the United States was the first Nation to recognize Israel, a mere 11 minutes after it declared independence. Our two nations-- intrinsically linked--were founded on similar principles, among them, justice, equal rights, freedom of religion, and the respect for the rule of law.

Over the years, both nations have been shaped by individuals seeking refuge from tyranny and oppression. Both nations have pursued truth and knowledge in an open society, unleashing innovation and creating untold prosperity for millions across the world.

But beyond this common cause, the United States-Israel relationship has stood the test of time because of three fundamental facts: One, the United States is strong when Israel is strong; two, the Jewish people deserve to live in peace and security in the indisputable land of their ancestors going back to the times of Abraham and Sarah; and, three, Israel has the right to defend herself from the existential threats that surround it.

This last point deserves special attention, especially as some seek to equate the two sides in this conflict. To me, adherents of this view could not be more mistaken. There is no moral equivalency. We cannot ``both sides'' the Israeli-Hamas conflict, not when one is a sovereign democracy that guarantees freedom of religion and the other is a designated terrorist group hell-bent on killing Jews and destroying the Israeli people.

We cannot ``both sides'' the conflict when, for decades, one has shouldered the heavy costs of war, terrorism, and unjustified boycotts and the other has diverted humanitarian aid towards weapons designed to kill as many as possible. We cannot ``both sides'' the conflict in light of the steps taken by Israel to limit civilian casualties. No nation but Israel actively takes steps to warn of impending attacks. None. No other nation drops leaflets and makes phone calls to alert residents that they may be in danger's way. Only Israel waits to begin its military offensive, even when it means losing the element of surprise and putting it at a tactical disadvantage.

Compare that to the barbaric steps taken by Hamas. When Israel voluntarily and unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, did Hamas moderate its actions? Did it take the opportunity to build peace and create prosperity for the Palestinian people? No.

Instead, it instigated war, and it continued to terrorize and kill Israelis. It fired tens of thousands of rockets into population centers, indiscriminately raining terror down on families while they slept, children while they walked to school, or congregants while they gathered to pray. Not only did it brazenly commit these war crimes, it did so while using its own residents as human shields. That is right. Across the Gaza Strip, Hamas co-opted Palestinian homes, schools, and mosques to carry out attacks on their Israeli counterparts.

So to those who seek moral equivalence between the two sides, I ask you: Who fires rockets out of someone's home? Hamas. Who uses schools and hospitals as launching sites for deadly missiles? Hamas. Who uses mosques as weapons depots? Hamas. Moreover, who denies food, water, fuel, and shelter to civilians in order to better its fighters? Hamas. Who denies Palestinians the right to leave northern Gaza, trapping them to use them as human shields? Hamas.

We must recognize, of course, that not all Palestinians are part of Hamas and that many residents in Gaza are

trapped in a cycle of violence that is nothing of their doing. But I will say it again: Hamas is not a legitimate political entity. It does not have a mandate to govern the people of Gaza. It is a terrorist organization guided by religious fanaticism. Full stop.

In the past, when Israel has opened up economic opportunities for Palestinians in Gaza, Hamas used the good will of Israel to lull Israel into a false sense of security. In this way, the Gazan people's thirst for freedom and prosperity has been supplanted by Hamas's thirst for vengeance and destruction. And after misleading Israel into thinking that it cared about the economic well-being of Palestinians instead of its stated mission of killing Jews, Hamas bought itself time to train and prepare for one of the most heinous terrorist attacks in Israel's history.

So make no mistake. The difference between Israel and Hamas is the difference between a civilized society and barbarism. If there is suffering to be found in Gaza, it is a direct result of Hamas's actions. Hamas does not care if innocent Israeli families are forced to suffer, and it does not care if Palestinians go without food, shelter, or electricity. It only cares about sowing chaos and fomenting violence in pursuit of its stated goal: the destruction of the State of Israel.

And by refusing to accept Israel's right to exist, putting it at odds with Arab countries who have joined the Abraham Accords and Palestinian authority for that fact in the West Bank, Hamas has revealed its true colors. For the sake of Israel, for the sake of the Palestinian people, Hamas must be eradicated from the face of the earth.

On October 7, it launched a brutal first salvo, an operation that clearly--in my mind--has Iran's fingerprints on it because of the capabilities Hamas alone does not have: intelligence and technological factors. Only a state actor would have that.

And the only state actor willing to assist Hamas with that is Iran. Now, perhaps Hamas launched its attack in the belief that others would join a multifront war to eliminate Israel. Perhaps it saw the writing on the wall with the recent Abraham Accords and talks of Israeli-Saudi normalization, or perhaps it sought to turn public sentiment against Israel with a race to the bottom, boosting its own image among the rogues' gallery of anti-Israel regimes.

But regardless of why Hamas carried out its attack, today, in this Chamber, let us expose Hamas for what it is. Let us reject the trap that they have tried to set and stand with our ally Israel in the wake of abhorrent attacks. Let us recommit to the principles we share with Israel as we support her in her hour of need. Let us call out Holocaust deniers who deny Israel's legitimacy. Let us promote the honest truth about Israel's contributions and call out anti-Semitism wherever it is found. And let us also root out the poisonous ideology of Islamophobia that recently claimed the life here in the United States of a 6-year- old Palestinian-American boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume.

And, above all, let us do the work we were elected to do, passing a bipartisan funding package to replenish the Iron Dome--something that, in the past, I have led on--and swiftly confirming a nominee to be our Ambassador to Israel. This is not a moment to hesitate. This is a clarion call.

As we prepare to take votes in support of our ally's struggle against terrorism, I can't help but think back to my very first visit to Israel over three decades ago. It is a trip I will never forget, especially the helicopter ride that crossed the narrowest part of Israel in only 3 minutes. In 3 minutes, we traversed a piece of land of such significant history where so many residents, with their backs to the sea, are surrounded by unfriendly neighbors.

As I crisscrossed the country from the Negev Desert to Jerusalem to the Galilee, I was immensely moved, not just by the people who made the desert green, but by the holy sites that ground my faith as a Christian. I freely visited these sites--as so many others have over the years--because Israel's jurisdiction ultimately opened them up to all. It is a freedom to worship that isn't guaranteed everywhere.

Mr. President, to me, this conflict boils down to the fundamental idea of freedom. Will we accept a world where militants with rockets and weapons can dictate the future? Or will we send them to the dustbin of history?

Will we stand up to terrorists and be there for our staunchest ally when they are in need? Freedom-loving people, freedom-loving nations, must answer this call and meet the moment at hand. Israel is the one place in the world--the one place--where anti-Semitism can be structurally impossible. It is the field of hope on which fear can be vanquished, the island of refuge that can stand firm no matter how stormy the sea of history turns, and that is why we must always keep it safe and always keep it free.

May we find the courage and the political will to do so quickly in the days ahead.

With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision

stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. President, I rise to speak about a horrific set of events that are taking place in a part of the world that we could do something about.

In this photo, this dead man's body is completely emaciated. The skin, tight over his bones, barely covers his skeleton. Bruises and scars stretch across his chest.

This is not a victim at the side of the road during the Ottoman Turks' Armenian genocide. It is not a holocaust survivor lying on the ground as allies liberated Buchenwald. It is not a human carcass left in the wake of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia or the Hutu in Rwanda or Serbian forces in Bosnia.

It is from the Human Rights Defender's Office in Nagorno-Karabakh, and it is from August--only weeks ago. Because, right now, as the Presiding Officer sits here on the dais and I stand here in the Chamber, the Aliyev government in Azerbaijan is carrying out a campaign of heinous atrocities that bear the hallmarks of genocide against the Armenians in Artsakh. They have purposely and viciously trapped an estimated 100,000 to 120,000 Christian Armenians in the Karabakh Mountains.

There is only one road out connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia for people, food, medicine, and basic supplies. And the Azerbaijanis have blocked it since December of last year.

Now, despite some reports yesterday, no aid has moved. They have tried to deny their role, but make no mistake--the Azerbaijani government is now wholeheartedly embracing this brutal blockade, denying the Armenian community food and fuel and medicine. Aliyev and his regime are trying to starve these people into death or political submission.

``There are no cemeteries and there are no machete attacks,'' wrote the former prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, in a recent report. But he said:

Starvation is the invisible genocide weapon. Without

immediate dramatic change, this group of Armenians will be

destroyed in a few weeks.

This group of Armenians--we're talking about over 100,000--will be destroyed in a few weeks. Not my observations; the observations of the former prosecutor at the International Criminal Court.

In Artsakh, the shelves at stores are empty. Children wait in lines for the chance of finding bread to feed their grandparents who are too weak to leave the house. There is no gas for ambulances. According to the head doctor at one maternity hospital, miscarriages have nearly tripled. And the BBC reports that one in three deaths in Nagorno- Karabakh is from malnutrition.

For months, Azerbaijan was just doing the bare minimum, allowing the International Committee of the Red Cross limited access. But in July, Aliyev blocked even the Red Cross. And

in complete defiance of the Geneva Conventions, Azerbaijan detained medical patients the Red Cross was transporting through the corridor. This is not only outrageous at face value, but an insult to the international community and a threat to brave Red Cross workers around the world.

In addition to arresting sick and elderly residents a few weeks ago, Azerbaijan also detained university students who were trying to go to Armenia to start the school year. Azerbaijan's foreign ministry says: Oh, there is nothing to worry about. These concerns are just a result of ``propaganda and political manipulations spread by Armenia.''

Really? They are blaming Armenia for this? That is a flat-out lie.

It was Azerbaijan, with Turkish backing, that launched the war in 2020--a war that uprooted close to 100,000 Armenians from their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh; a war that killed 6,500 people. Now Aliyev blocks the Lachin corridor and says: I am ``not organizing ethnic cleansing.'' The same Azerbaijani President who has also threatened to ``chase away'' Armenian separatists ``like dogs,'' whose government issued a commemorative postage stamp showing a worker in hazmat gear spraying disinfectant on the region.

We have seen and heard this kind of propaganda throughout history. It is the work of a regime intent on destroying and erasing this ancient Armenian community's history in Nagorno-Karabakh.

And right now, the United States is failing. The United States is not meeting the humanitarian needs or publicly putting enough pressure on Aliyev to stop the campaign of ethnic cleansing.

I sincerely hope the State Department is not considering renewing the 907 waiver which allows for security assistance to go to Azerbaijan. I don't know how the United States can justify spending any kind of support--security or otherwise--to the regime in Baku.

We have seen a video of Azerbaijani forces killing unarmed Armenian soldiers in cold blood. We have reports of Azerbaijani soldiers sexually assaulting and mutilating an Armenian female soldier. So to send them assistance makes a mockery of the FREEDOM Support Act. Section 907 of this act is meant to ban security assistance to Azerbaijan until it is ``taking demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.''

That is the end of the quote from section 907. But still, the Department of State has waived section 907 over and over and over again.

Suffice it to say, I am strongly opposed to having any aid going to a fighting force known for war crimes and the violation of human rights. I understand the dynamics of the broader region are complicated, but our fundamental principles underlying security assistance should not be.

When the United States untethers our security assistance from human rights and American values to focus on short-term tactical military assistance, it not only damages long-term American national security interests, it flies in the face of our duty to honor the victims and survivors of the Armenian genocide and our duty to ensure that history does not repeat itself.

We cannot look away from a systematic attempt to eradicate and erase an entire people from the face of the Earth.

In 2021, as my colleagues witnessed here on the Senate floor, I was overcome with emotion to see President Biden join us in recognizing-- for the first time of any American President--the Armenian genocide.

More than a century ago, Ottoman Turks perpetrated a systematic campaign to exterminate the Armenian population through killings, through forced deportation, and, yes, through starvation.

What the Turks did is an irrefutable historical fact. The recognition of this fact was a huge step forward, and I am proud to have played a role in that effort. I am proud that I spoke up as many American leaders stayed silent; proud that I pressured State Department nominees and officials to acknowledge this historical reality; proud that I introduced or cosponsored resolutions recognizing the Armenian genocide since before I came to the Senate in 2006.

Make no mistake, fighting the denial of Armenian genocide is not only about the past, it is also about the present.

That is why I am calling on Aliyev to immediately release the Armenian prisoners of war. It is why I have been working on legislation to address the current humanitarian crisis in Artsakh. And it is why when USAID Administrator Power came before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this year, I pushed her to get humanitarian assistance to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

I believe the United States can--and must--play an active role in addressing this conflict because the so-called Russian peacekeepers, who have supposedly been enforcing a ceasefire following Azerbaijan's 2020 invasion, have been--to no one's surprise--wholly ineffective. As Azerbaijani forces began an incursion in September of 2022, these Russian forces stood idly by. Moscow will, no doubt, exploit any instability to its advantage, but they have also proved their lack of worth, which is all the more reason that the United States must continue to play a role.

Now, we have been facilitating talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but we need to change our approach. We cannot continue to simply facilitate talks. We have a responsibility to mediate, to pursue a meaningful enforceable agreement with the guaranteed rights, security, and dignity of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh as a central tenet. We must also encourage--and if necessary--broker direct discussions between political leaders in Stepanakert and Baku.

Of course, to be an honest broker means we need to tell the truth about Azerbaijan's atrocities. We need to call out those individuals perpetrating this campaign of ethnic cleansing. We need to target them--including President Aliyev--with sanctions. We need to be cutting off their access to the wealth and oil money they have stashed away in financial institutions around the world, to their yachts and mansions across Europe.

The evidence is there, and we must preserve it so Aliyev can be held accountable for these atrocities.

I have called on the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations to introduce a resolution at the UN Security Council enforcing an end to Aliyev's blockade.

I am pleased to see that Secretary Blinken is personally engaging in the crisis now, but the message he delivers must be crystal clear. At the same time, the EU needs to step in too.

Now, I was pleased to see the High Representative Borell's statement in July that the EU is ``deeply concerned about the serious humanitarian situation'' in Nagorno-Karabakh. But I hope that actions accompany those words. Instead of just taking Azerbaijani gas and praising the country as a ``crucial energy partner,'' they must also bring pressure to end this blockade.

How many leaders have solemnly promised to learn history's lessons and prevent future genocides?

How many people have come to the floor of the Senate and said: Never, never again?

How many people will have to die of starvation before we act?

With Aliyev potentially moving troops along the border, we cannot say we didn't see it coming.

This time must be different. In the past, plans to carry out genocide were clouded by distance or geography. But this time we know. We know Aliyev is doing it right now. We must not only hold him accountable for his actions, we must stop him from succeeding in erasing this Armenian community.

We must stop him from starving these Armenians to death or imposing political control by opening only the Aghdam corridor. This is not a substitution for opening the Lachin corridor. It is not upholding the commitments of the 2020 agreement. Using basic humanitarian food and medical supplies as a political weapon is not acceptable. We have the power to do it--if we act now.

Given the chance, who here among us would not go back and stop the Turks from rounding up the first Armenian victims of the genocide who were hung in the streets of Istanbul or the Serb forces who gave Bosnian Muslims a 24-hour ultimatum to surrender or the Rwandan radio broadcasts inciting violence?

Unlike those times in the past, we are living on the brink right now.

So to the Biden administration, I would say, now is the time to step up and protect this vulnerable population; to the international community, now is the time to work together to bring pressure to stop this tragedy from unfolding in front of our very eyes.

To the Armenian people trapped in this blockade with no food as winter approaches, know that you have friends and allies here in the U.S. Senate and around the world who will not rest until you are safe and secure. Hang on. Hang on.

And to the men organizing and carrying out this brutal campaign, we will hold you accountable for your crimes even if it takes a lifetime. You will pay a price. You will face justice, and I certainly will not rest until you do so.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 12; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Bradsher nomination postcloture; further, that all time be considered expired at 11:30 a.m. and, following the cloture vote on the Cummings nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; that if cloture is invoked on the Cummings nomination, all time be considered expired at 2:15 p.m.; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.