IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 259 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to support the repatri-
ation of religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq to their ancestral home-
lands. 
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 eth-
nic minorities, where they lived for centuries until the Is-
lamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) overran and occu-
pied the area in 2014; 
Whereas, in 2016, then-Secretary of State John Kerry an-
nounced, ‘‘In my judgment Daesh is responsible for geno-
cide against groups in areas under its control, including 
Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims. Daesh is geno-
cidal 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 eth-
nic cleansing directed at these same groups and in some 
cases also against Sunni Muslims, Kurds, and other mi-
norities.’’; 
Whereas these atrocities were undertaken with the specific in-
tent to bring about the eradication and displacement of 
Christians, Yazidis, and other communities and the de-
struction of their cultural heritage, in violation of the 
United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Pun-
ishment of the Crime of Genocide; 
Whereas, in 2016, the House of Representatives passed H. 
Con. Res. 75 expressing the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that the atrocities perpetrated by ISIS 
against religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria 
include war crimes, crimes against humanity, and geno-
cide; 
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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•HRES 259 IH 
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 in-
stability 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 inter-
national, Iraqi, Kurdish, and local authorities, in partner-
ship with local faith leaders, to promote the safety and 
security of all people, especially religious and ethnic mi-
norities: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) it should be a policy priority of the United 
States, working with international partners, the Gov-
ernment of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Govern-
ment, and local populations, to support the safe re-
turn of displaced indigenous people of the Nineveh 
Plain and Sinjar to their ancestral homeland; 
(2) Iraqi Security Forces and the Kurdish 
Peshmerga should work to more fully integrate all 
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