Under current law section 907 prohibits direct United States aid to the Government of Azerbaijan because of their blockade of Armenia and Karabakh. What happened in the subcommittee was that language was added that essentially repealed section 907 and said that direct government aid could be sent to Azerbaijan for humanitarian purposes assuming that the President decided that that was appropriate. We had extensive debate on the House floor on the issue. and we voted by voice vote overwhelmingly. to take that language out that repeals section 907. and during the debate on the House floor it was abundantly clear that we were talking about humanitarian assistance. that we were talking about the discretion of the President of the United States to grant that humanitarian assistance. and that we were talking about assistance that was going to go to refugees. Now when the conference met. new language. which is essentially the same as the old language. was put into the conference bill contrary to the votq on the floor of this House that says the same thing. that says that it is OK to give humanitarian assistance to refugees in Azerbaijan if the President decides that that is what he wants to do. There is no difference between this new language and the old language that was deleted by the House of Representatives. Substantively it is the same. and the way I understand it. that means that we should be able to raise the point of order today and take that language out of the conference bill because it is substantially the same.
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refugees