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The U.S. House Rules Committee on Wednesday cleared the way for an amendment calling for continued U.S. aid for Artsakh demining to be considered and voted upon by the full U.S. House of Representatives, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The U.S. House is set to take up the amendment on Thursday as it begins consideration of the Fiscal Year 2021 Foreign Aid Bill.

The Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) aid amendment #49 to H.R.7608 calls for $1.4 million in U.S. aid to Artsakh to continue the life-saving de-mining efforts of The HALO Trust. The bi-partisan amendment was led by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Jackie Speier (D-CA), Representatives TJ Cox (D-CA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and supported by over 30 House members.

The Rules Committee ruled “out of order” an amendment, introduced by Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus and Turkey Caucus Co-Chair Steve Cohen (D-TN), which sought to block any U.S. funding for humanitarian de-mining in Artsakh.

A similarly hostile amendment, offered by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), was withdrawn earlier on Wednesday.