YEREVAN, AUGUST 1, ARMENPRESS. In a pro-accountability move that will help check Azerbaijani aggression and contribute to the stabilization of the 1994 cease-fire, the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence – chaired by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) – has included a provision in the Intelligence Authorization Act calling upon the U.S. intelligence community to provide Congress with a written assessment regarding which side is initiating the use of force in and around Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) and the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the official website of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“We welcome this provision of the Intelligence Authorization Act as a pro-active measure to ensure that Congress has reliable intelligence on Azerbaijan’s cease-fire violations against Artsakh and cross-border aggression into Armenia,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “This constructive initiative, in the spirit of the bipartisan Royce-Engel Peace Proposal, will help Congress hold Baku accountable, fact-check its denials, and contribute to a more stable cease-fire.”

“Greater intelligence community scrutiny, more Congressional oversight, and additional accountability – in the form of gun-fire locators and OSCE observers – are all needed to help break Baku’s reckless pattern of attack, deny, and repeat – a one-sided cycle of violence needlessly perpetuated by uninformed calls upon all parties to refrain from violence,” continued Hamparian.