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WHAT'S THE RUSH SENATOR KERRY?
Armenian Weekly
Fri, Jul 30 2010
President Obama, clearly in no hurry, waited more than a year to fill
the empty U.S. Ambassador position in Azerbaijan.
Unfortunately, the President's choice wasn't worth the wait. He
nominated Matthew Bryza, a controversial diplomat, widely viewed as
pro-Azerbaijani and carrying heavy conflict of interest baggage tied
to his wife's professional advocacy at a Washington, DC think-tank
in support of Azerbaijani interests. This think tank, the Hudson
Institute, significantly, has refused to reveal its foreign sources
of funding, but public records show that its programs have been funded
by interests from Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the Caspian energy industry.
The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry,
from The Armenian Weekly's home state of Massachusetts, rather than
opposing this flawed nomination, or, at the very least, using his
powerful position to demand careful scrutiny of this nominee, has,
instead, stretched the Senate's rules to rush through Mr. Bryza's
confirmation as quickly as possible.
Under Senator Kerry's leadership, the Foreign Relations Committee
did not provide the traditional one-week notice for Mr. Bryza's
nomination, and then, unusually, allowed only one day for Senators to
submit written Questions for the Record. Today, as we go to press,
it remains unclear if Senator Kerry will again seek to rush through
this process by scheduling Mr. Bryza for this coming week, despite the
fact that his fellow Senators and, more broadly, concerned elements
of American civil society, have yet to have a chance to meaningfully
review, investigate, and respond to the written responses just released
by the State Department.
Senator Kerry's unusual "fast-tracking" of this nomination is all the
more troubling in light of the sustained efforts over the past several
months by Armenian Americans, in Massachusetts and nationwide, in
calling upon him to ensure careful scrutiny of the U.S. ambassadorial
nomination to Azerbaijan. The urgency of the Armenian American
community's communications with the Senator have reflected profound
reservations over Mr. Bryza's demonstrated unfairness on Armenian
issues, as well as concern that the confirmation of a nominee who has
consistently turned a blind-eye to Azerbaijani threats, aggression,
and acts of cultural desecration will substantially set back the
cause of peace in Nagorno Karabagh. The community's concerns about
Senator Kerry's actions are compounded by unanswered questions about
why he has remained so conspicuously absent, during this session
of Congress, as a cosponsor of the Armenian Genocide Resolution,
a measure is backed by the Senate Majority Leader and that he had,
until now, consistently backed throughout his tenure in public office.
All citizens and Senators deserve a chance to meaningfully participate
in the important Constitutional process of ambassadorial confirmations,
especially when vital life-and-death issues are at stake, as they
are in Nagorno Karabagh. As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee and a Senator representing America's oldest and one of
its largest Armenian American communities, John Kerry should put the
brakes on the Bryza nomination.
From: A. Papazian
Armenian Weekly
Fri, Jul 30 2010
President Obama, clearly in no hurry, waited more than a year to fill
the empty U.S. Ambassador position in Azerbaijan.
Unfortunately, the President's choice wasn't worth the wait. He
nominated Matthew Bryza, a controversial diplomat, widely viewed as
pro-Azerbaijani and carrying heavy conflict of interest baggage tied
to his wife's professional advocacy at a Washington, DC think-tank
in support of Azerbaijani interests. This think tank, the Hudson
Institute, significantly, has refused to reveal its foreign sources
of funding, but public records show that its programs have been funded
by interests from Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the Caspian energy industry.
The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry,
from The Armenian Weekly's home state of Massachusetts, rather than
opposing this flawed nomination, or, at the very least, using his
powerful position to demand careful scrutiny of this nominee, has,
instead, stretched the Senate's rules to rush through Mr. Bryza's
confirmation as quickly as possible.
Under Senator Kerry's leadership, the Foreign Relations Committee
did not provide the traditional one-week notice for Mr. Bryza's
nomination, and then, unusually, allowed only one day for Senators to
submit written Questions for the Record. Today, as we go to press,
it remains unclear if Senator Kerry will again seek to rush through
this process by scheduling Mr. Bryza for this coming week, despite the
fact that his fellow Senators and, more broadly, concerned elements
of American civil society, have yet to have a chance to meaningfully
review, investigate, and respond to the written responses just released
by the State Department.
Senator Kerry's unusual "fast-tracking" of this nomination is all the
more troubling in light of the sustained efforts over the past several
months by Armenian Americans, in Massachusetts and nationwide, in
calling upon him to ensure careful scrutiny of the U.S. ambassadorial
nomination to Azerbaijan. The urgency of the Armenian American
community's communications with the Senator have reflected profound
reservations over Mr. Bryza's demonstrated unfairness on Armenian
issues, as well as concern that the confirmation of a nominee who has
consistently turned a blind-eye to Azerbaijani threats, aggression,
and acts of cultural desecration will substantially set back the
cause of peace in Nagorno Karabagh. The community's concerns about
Senator Kerry's actions are compounded by unanswered questions about
why he has remained so conspicuously absent, during this session
of Congress, as a cosponsor of the Armenian Genocide Resolution,
a measure is backed by the Senate Majority Leader and that he had,
until now, consistently backed throughout his tenure in public office.
All citizens and Senators deserve a chance to meaningfully participate
in the important Constitutional process of ambassadorial confirmations,
especially when vital life-and-death issues are at stake, as they
are in Nagorno Karabagh. As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee and a Senator representing America's oldest and one of
its largest Armenian American communities, John Kerry should put the
brakes on the Bryza nomination.
From: A. Papazian