IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 682 

Urging the Department of State to provide necessary equipment and training 

to the men and women of the Kurdish Peshmerga in the fight against 

the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 14, 2016 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself and Mr. SHERMAN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the Department of State to provide necessary equipment and training to the men and women of the Kurdish 

Peshmerga in the fight against the Islamic State of 

Iraq and Syria (ISIS). 

Whereas the Kurdish Peshmerga, meaning ‘‘those who face 

death,’’ are the military forces of Iraq’s autonomous 

Kurdistan Region, governed by the Kurdistan Regional 

Government (KRG), under authority granted by the Iraqi 

constitution; 

Whereas the Peshmerga are on the front lines against ISIS, 

fighting along an approximately 650-mile disputed border 

separating ISIS and KRG-held territory; 

Whereas the Peshmerga, running low on ammunition and 

equipped with piecemeal and sometimes decades-old 


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•HRES 682 IH 

weaponry, remain woefully disadvantaged in the fight 

against ISIS; 

Whereas over 1,400 Peshmerga have fallen and thousands 

more have been wounded; 

Whereas, according to the Congressional Research Service, 

there are approximately 150,000 Peshmerga forces; 

Whereas on December 17, 2015, United States Secretary of 

Defense Ashton Carter said ‘‘the Kurdish Peshmerga 

have been exactly what we have been looking for in this 

whole fight in Iraq and Syria, namely a capable and motivated force that we can enable.’’; 

Whereas in 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for 

Refugees estimated that the Kurdistan Region hosted approximately 220,000 Syrian refugees and 700,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs); 

Whereas on August 13, 2014, the United Nations designated 

Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, as a ‘‘Level 3 

Emergency’’, its highest level emergency designation; 

Whereas, according to the KRG, the Kurdistan Region now 

hosts more than 300,000 Syrian refugees and over 

1,500,000 IDPs and the population has increased by almost 30 percent since the escalation of violence by ISIS 

in 2014; 

Whereas the Government of Iraq has withheld the KRG’s 17 

percent share of Iraq’s annual budget since February 

2014; and 

Whereas the loss of fiscal transfers from the Government of 

Iraq, a burgeoning population due to displaced persons 

and refugees, and the lack of necessary equipment in the 

fight against ISIS is causing a growing economic, humanitarian, and security crisis in the Kurdistan Region 


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•HRES 682 IH 

and a decline in the morale of the Peshmerga: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) urges the Department of State to provide 

3 necessary equipment and training to the men and 

4 women of the Kurdish Peshmerga in the fight 

5 against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS); 

6 (2) urges the Department of State to provide 

7 assistance to the Kurdistan Regional Government to 

8 assist in meeting the needs of the internally dis9 placed persons and refugee populations; and 

10 (3) encourages the Peshmerga to continue and 

11 redouble their efforts to protect minorities who are 

12 fleeing persecution in Iraq and Syria. 

Æ 


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