IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 259 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to support the repatriation of religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq to their ancestral homelands. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 27, 2019 

Mr. FORTENBERRY (for himself and Ms. ESHOO) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to 

support the repatriation of religious and ethnic minorities 

in Iraq to their ancestral homelands. 

Whereas the Nineveh Plain and the wider region have been 

the ancestral homeland of Assyrian Chaldean Syriac 

Christians, Yazidis, Shabak, and other religious and ethnic minorities, where they lived for centuries until the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) overran and occupied the area in 2014; 

Whereas, in 2016, then-Secretary of State John Kerry announced, ‘‘In my judgment Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including 

Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims. Daesh is genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideology, and by actions— 


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•HRES 259 IH 

in what it says, what it believes, and what it does. Daesh 

is also responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at these same groups and in some 

cases also against Sunni Muslims, Kurds, and other minorities.’’; 

Whereas these atrocities were undertaken with the specific intent to bring about the eradication and displacement of 

Christians, Yazidis, and other communities and the destruction of their cultural heritage, in violation of the 

United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; 

Whereas, in 2016, the House of Representatives passed H. 

Con. Res. 75 expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the atrocities perpetrated by ISIS 

against religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria 

include war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; 

Whereas it is consistent with the commitments of Iraq, the 

Kurdish Regional Government, the United States, and 

the international community to guarantee the restoration 

of fundamental human rights, including property rights, 

to genocide victims, and to see that ethnic and religious 

pluralism survives in Iraq; 

Whereas President Trump issued orders to defeat ISIS, and 

with the joint efforts of the United States and 79 allies 

and partners, ISIS has been edged out of large swaths 

of territory in Iraq and Syria that it once controlled; 

Whereas, in July 2018, under the direction of Vice President 

Pence, the Genocide Recovery and Persecution Response 

Program has partnered the Department of State and the 

United States Agency for International Development with 


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local faith and community leaders to rapidly deliver aid 

to persecuted communities, beginning with Iraq; 

Whereas Christians in Iraq once numbered over 1.5 million 

in 2003 and have dwindled to less than 200,000 today; 

Whereas armed militia groups linked to Iran and operating 

in Sinjar and the Nineveh Plains are increasing the instability and insecurity of northern Iraq, preventing the 

conditions for local and indigenous minorities to return to 

their homelands; 

Whereas Iraqi religious minorities have faced challenges in 

integrating into the Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish 

Peshmerga; and 

Whereas facilitating the success of communities in Sinjar and 

the Nineveh Plains requires a commitment from international, Iraqi, Kurdish, and local authorities, in partnership with local faith leaders, to promote the safety and 

security of all people, especially religious and ethnic minorities: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) it should be a policy priority of the United 

4 States, working with international partners, the Gov5 ernment of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Govern6 ment, and local populations, to support the safe re7 turn of displaced indigenous people of the Nineveh 

8 Plain and Sinjar to their ancestral homeland; 

9 (2) Iraqi Security Forces and the Kurdish 

10 Peshmerga should work to more fully integrate all 


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1 communities, including religious minority commu2 nities to counter current and future terrorist threats; 

3 and 

4 (3) the United States, working with inter5 national allies and partners, should coordinate ef6 forts to provide for the safe return and future secu7 rity of religious minorities in the Nineveh Plain and 

8 Sinjar. 

Æ 


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