Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg were joined by House Foreign Affairs Committee Member Joe Crowley in urging the State Department to clarify inaccurate language in its 2006 human rights report that dramatically mischaracterizes the fundamental realities of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

"Armenian Americans appreciate the leadership of Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Joe Knollenberg and Frank Pallone and Congressman Joe Crowley in seeking clarification from the Department of State concerning its patently inaccurate and entirely unprecedented misrepresentation of Armenia as an "occupier" of Nagorno Karabakh and Azeri territory. We look forward to the State Department's timely response to their questions and to learning of the steps that the Secretary intends to take to rectify the damage that this ill-advised and destructive misrepresentation has already caused to the peace process," ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian said.

The Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Pallone and Knollenberg specifically called on Secretary Rice to publicly clarify that:

1) The report's language describing Armenia as an occupier of Azerbaijani territory and Nagorno Karabakh is inaccurate and does not reflect US foreign policy;

2) The United States views the Nagorno Karabakh conflict as fundamentally about the self-determination of the people of Nagorno Karabakh; and

3) This misrepresentation would not appear in future reports or other official documents.