SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Iraq and Syria Geno-
cide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and 
Syria are persecuted groups, and the Secretary of 
State of State declared on March 17, 2016, that 
Daesh, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and 
Syria (ISIS), was responsible for genocide, crimes 
against humanity, and other atrocity crimes against 
several of these groups, including Christians and 
Yezidis. 
(2) According to the Department of State’s an-
nual reports on international religious freedom, the 
number of Christians living in Iraq has dropped 
from an estimated 800,000 to 1.4 million in 2002 to 
fewer than 250,000 in 2015, and the number of 
Yezidis living in Iraq has dropped from 500,000 in 
2013 to 350,000 to 400,000 in 2015. 
(3) The annual reports on international reli-
gious freedom further suggest that Christian com-
munities living in Syria, which had accounted for be-
tween 8 and 10 percent of Syria’s total population 
in 2010, are now ‘‘considerably’’ smaller as a result 
of the civil war, and that the population of approxi-
mately 80,000 Yezidis in 2010 may now be larger 
because of refugees from Iraq. 
(4) Local communities and entities have sought 
to mitigate the impact of violence directed against 
religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria, in-
cluding the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil 
(Kurdistan Region of Iraq), which has used private 
funds to provide assistance to internally displaced 
Christians, Yezidis, and Muslims throughout the 
greater Erbil region, while growing needs and dimin-
ishing resources have made it increasingly difficult 
to continue these efforts. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 
Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on 
Homeland Security, and the Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence of the House of Rep-
resentatives; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 
the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Af-
fairs, and the Select Committee on Intelligence 
of the Senate. 
(2) FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘foreign terrorist organization’’ mean an orga-
nization designated by the Secretary of State as a 
foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 
219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1189(a)). 
(3) HUMANITARIAN, STABILIZATION, AND RE-
COVERY
NEEDS.—The term ‘‘humanitarian, sta-
bilization, and recovery needs’’, with respect to an 
individual, includes water, sanitation, hygiene, food 
security and nutrition, shelter and housing, recon-
struction, medical, education, and psychosocial 
needs. 
(4) HYBRID COURT.—The term ‘‘hybrid court’’ 
means a court with a combination of domestic and 
international lawyers, judges, and personnel. 
(5) INTERNATIONALIZED DOMESTIC COURT.— 
The term ‘‘internationalized domestic court’’ means 
a domestic court with the support of international 
advisers. 
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to ensure that 
assistance for humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery
needs of individuals who are or were nationals and resi-
dents of Iraq or Syria, and of communities from those 
countries, is directed toward those individuals and commu-
nities with the greatest need, including those individuals 
from communities of religious and ethnic minorities, and 
communities of religious and ethnic minorities, that have 
been identified as being at risk of persecution, forced mi-
gration, acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war 
crimes. 
SEC. 5. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE ACCOUNTABILITY IN IRAQ 
AND SYRIA FOR ACTS OF GENOCIDE, CRIMES 
AGAINST HUMANITY, AND WAR CRIMES. 
(a) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of State and the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development are authorized to provide assist-
ance, including financial and technical assistance, as nec-
essary and appropriate to support the efforts of entities, 
including nongovernmental organizations with expertise in 
international criminal investigations and law, to undertake 
the following activities to address crimes of genocide, 
crimes against humanity, or war crimes, and their con-
stituent crimes, in Iraq since January 2014: 
(1) The conduct of criminal investigations. 
(2) The development of indigenous investigative 
and judicial skills, including by partnering, directly
mentoring, and providing equipment and infrastruc-
ture where necessary, for the purpose of effectively 
adjudicating cases consistent with due process and 
respect for the rule of law. 
(3) The collection and preservation of evidence 
and the chain of evidence, including for use in pros-
ecutions in domestic courts, hybrid courts, and inter-
nationalized domestic courts, consistent with the ac-
tivities described in subsection (b). 
(b) ACTIONS BY FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.—The Sec-
retary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General, 
the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of Na-
tional Intelligence, and the Director of the Federal Bureau 
of Investigation, shall encourage governments of foreign 
countries— 
(1) to include in appropriate security databases 
and security screening procedures of such countries 
information to identify individuals who are suspected 
to have committed crimes of genocide, crimes 
against humanity, or war crimes, and their con-
stituent crimes, in Iraq or Syria, including individ-
uals who are suspected to be members of foreign ter-
rorist organizations operating in Iraq or Syria; and
(2) to prosecute such individuals for acts of 
genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes, as 
appropriate. 
(c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out subsection (a), 
the Secretary of State shall consult with and consider 
credible information from entities described in such sub-
section. 
SEC. 6. IDENTIFICATION OF AND ASSISTANCE TO ADDRESS 
HUMANITARIAN, 
STABILIZATION, 
AND 
RE-
COVERY NEEDS OF CERTAIN PERSONS IN 
IRAQ AND SYRIA. 
(a) IDENTIFICATION.—The Secretary of State, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Adminis-
trator of the United States Agency for International De-
velopment, and Director of National Intelligence, shall 
seek to identify the following: 
(1) The threats of persecution and other early- 
warning indicators of genocide, crimes against hu-
manity, and war crimes against individuals— 
(A) who are or were nationals and resi-
dents of Iraq or Syria, are members of religious 
or ethnic minority groups in such countries, 
and with respect to which the Secretary of 
State has determined ISIS has committed acts