IV 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 435 
Recognizing the persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, especially 
Christians and Yezidis, by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, 
also known as Daesh, and calling for the immediate prioritization of 
accepting refugees from such communities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 
Ms. GABBARD (for herself and Mr. HUNTER) submitted the following resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the persecution of religious and ethnic minori-
ties, especially Christians and Yezidis, by the Islamic 
State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as Daesh, 
and calling for the immediate prioritization of accepting 
refugees from such communities. 
Whereas the United Nations Secretary-General has con-
demned ‘‘in the strongest terms the systematic persecu-
tion of minority populations in Iraq by Islamic State (IS) 
and associated armed groups’’; 
Whereas the Middle East has been home to Christians, 
Yezidis, Mandeans, and other religious minority groups 
for generations; 
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•HRES 435 IH 
Whereas religious minority groups are being targeted specifi-
cally for religious reasons, receiving ultimatums to either 
convert to Islam, pay a tax, leave, or face imminent exe-
cution; 
Whereas these religious and ethnic minority groups have 
faced systematic and widespread attacks, including mur-
der, rape, forced conversions to Islam, mass abductions, 
displacement, deprivation of property, and other atroc-
ities, resulting in hundreds of thousands of displaced per-
sons who have been forced to flee and seek refuge; 
Whereas Christians have suffered barbaric violence, such as 
dozens of filmed beheadings in Libya, as well as forced 
displacement and deprivation of property with the Islamic 
State of Iraq and the Levant ultimatums to either pay 
a tax, convert, leave, or die, including hundreds of thou-
sands of Christians displaced from towns and villages 
across the region; 
Whereas the Yezidi community alone has suffered with more 
than 420,000 Yezidis who are displaced and living in 
camps, with thousands of Yezidi girls kidnapped and sold 
into slavery; 
Whereas these actions are in clear violation of the United Na-
tions Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of 
the Crime of Genocide, signed in Paris on December 9, 
1948 (referred to as ‘‘the Convention’’); 
Whereas Article II of the Convention declares that ‘‘In the 
present Convention, genocide means any of the following 
acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in 
part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as 
such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing seri-
ous bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) 
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