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 equip-
ment 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 mo-
tivated force that we can enable.’’; 
Whereas in 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Refugees estimated that the Kurdistan Region hosted ap-
proximately 220,000 Syrian refugees and 700,000 inter-
nally 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 al-
most 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, hu-
manitarian, 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 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) urges 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); 
(2) urges the Department of State to provide 
assistance to the Kurdistan Regional Government to 
assist in meeting the needs of the internally dis-
placed persons and refugee populations; and 
(3) encourages the Peshmerga to continue and 
redouble their efforts to protect minorities who are 
fleeing persecution in Iraq and Syria. 
Æ 
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