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Over 100 members of Congress – 26 Senators and 75 Representatives – have called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to withhold U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, citing Baku’s sentencing of unlawfully detained Armenian prisoners, destruction of Armenian Christian heritage, and continued military occupation of sovereign Armenian territory.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) backed bicameral, bipartisan letter was led by Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and garnered support from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and a number of Senate and House committee and subcommittee leaders.
The letter responds to the Trump Administration’s decision to extend the waiver of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, reauthorizing U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan. President Trump first waived Section 907 in August 2025, following a White House summit with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and notified Congress in July 2026 of his intention to extend that waiver.
“June 23rd, 2026, marked the 1000th day of unlawful detention for the Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan’s custody. It is imperative that the United States applies meaningful pressure on Azerbaijan to ensure their release, as required under international law. We call on the administration to engage with Azerbaijan to secure the release of detainees and encourage the removal of Azerbaijani military forces from sovereign Armenian land. If meaningful steps are not taken, we urge your administration to withhold U.S. military assistance in order to demonstrate the United States’ commitment to ensuring all parties take the peace process seriously,” the US lawmakers said in the letter addressed to Rubio.
Joining Senators Peters and Schiff as signatories of the letter are Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Angela Alsobrooks (MD), Tammy Baldwin (WI), Michael Bennet (CO), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Cory Booker (NJ), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), Tammy Duckworth (IL), Dick Durbin (IL), John Fetterman (PA), Ruben Gallego (AZ), Tim Kaine (VA), Andy Kim (NJ), Ed Markey (MA), Alex Padilla (CA), Jack Reed (RI), Jacky Rosen (NV), Bernie Sanders (VT), Elissa Slotkin (MI), Chris Van Hollen (MD), Raphael Warnock (GA), Elizabeth Warren (MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), and Peter Welch (VT).
Joining Representatives Bilirakis and Pallone as signatories of the letter are Representatives Gabe Amo (RI-1), Jake Auchincloss (MA-4), Wesley Bell (MO-1), Don Beyer (VA-8), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Mike Carey (OH-15), Andre Carson (IN-7), Greg Casar (TX-35), Judy Chu (CA-28), Jim Costa (CA-21), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Debbie Dingell (MI-6), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-7), Vince Fong (CA-20), Valerie Foushee (NC-4), Laura Friedman (CA-30), Jesus Garcia (IL-4), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Laura Gillen (NY-4), Carlos Gimenez (FL-28), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Maggie Goodlander (NH-2), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Steven Horsford (NV-4), Jonathan Jackson (IL-1), Hank Johnson (GA-4), Young Kim (CA-40), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-8), John Larson (CT-1), George Latimer (NY-16), Mike Lawler (NY-17), Susie Lee (NV-3), Mike Levin (CA-49), Sam Liccardo (CA-16), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Stephen Lynch (MA-8), Seth Magaziner (RI-2), Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), Sarah McBride (DE-0), James McGovern (MA-2), Rob Menendez (NJ-8), Grace Meng (NY-6), Dave Min (CA-47), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Chris Pappas (NH-1), Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Chellie Pingree (ME-1), Mike Quigley (IL-5), Delia Ramirez (IL-3), Jamie Raskin (MD-8), Luz Rivas (CA-29), Janice Schakowsky (IL-9), Brad Schneider (IL-10), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Tom Suozzi (NY-3), David Taylor (OH-2), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Dina Titus (NV-1), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Lori Trahan (MA-3), David Valadao (CA-22), Nydia Velazquez (NY-7), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), and George Whitesides (CA-27).