Title: A resolution acknowledging the Kurds' vital role in stopping the spread of ISIS militants in the Middle East, and for other purposes.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution acknowledges the importance of the Kurds in stopping the spread of Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria and the surrounding region. The resolution also states that the United States must continue its leading role in promoting peace in the Middle East and fighting against terrorist groups.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 361 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 361

  Acknowledging the Kurds' vital role in stopping the spread of ISIS 
         militants in the Middle East, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 17, 2019

     Ms. Ernst (for herself and Mr. Rubio) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Acknowledging the Kurds' vital role in stopping the spread of ISIS 
         militants in the Middle East, and for other purposes.

Whereas, in 2014, the United States led an international coalition against 
        Islamic State (ISIS) militants, conducting airstrikes and later building 
        military bases on Syrian territory to assist ground operations against 
        ISIS;
Whereas a coalition of Arab and Kurdish militias, known as the Syrian Democratic 
        Forces (SDF), with the help of United States airstrikes and military 
        advisors, drove ISIS away from the Turkish border and out of northern 
        Syria;
Whereas, since ISIS militants swept across Syria and military action against 
        ISIS began, the SDF has done the critical work of clearing, holding, and 
        governing the territory previously conquered by the ISIS militants;
Whereas the SDF became one of the United States strongest partners in fighting 
        ISIS as fearless and loyal fighters who fought fiercely alongside United 
        States special operations forces and other coalition partners, losing 
        over 10,000 SDF troops throughout the course of military operations;
Whereas the SDF with coalition support captured approximately 11,000 ISIS 
        fighters and detained them in Kurdish-held territory;
Whereas the Kurds have assisted humanitarian efforts in the area, including 
        caring for refugees and operating more than a dozen camps for displaced 
        families, helping tens of thousands of people, many of them the wives 
        and children of ISIS fighters;
Whereas the Government of Turkey is hostile toward Kurdish groups living along 
        its border with Syria, claiming that the Kurdish fighters in Syria are 
        linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been in conflict 
        with Turkey for the past several decades;
Whereas the SDF has not engaged in offensive operations against Turkey and has 
        served as a buffer preventing extremist fighters from launching attacks 
        into Turkey and beyond;
Whereas the United States Armed Forces were ordered to withdraw from sites along 
        the Turkish border in northern Syria, followed by a Turkish incursion 
        that began on October 9, 2019;
Whereas the withdrawal of United States troops and the ongoing conflict between 
        Turkey and Kurdish-led fighters will allow ISIS to profit from the 
        instability in the region, as SDF counter-ISIS missions have been 
        suspended, and Kurdish-held ISIS prisoners are in danger of being 
        released from confinement, as the SDF no longer have the capacity to 
        guard detention facilities while they are engaged in defensive 
        operations against Turkish forces; and
Whereas the withdrawal of United States forces from northern Syria has severely 
        damaged our relationship with our Kurdish partners, effectively forcing 
        them to ally with the Assad regime, allowing the Governments of the 
        Russian Federation and Iran to expand their influence in the region, 
        while at the same time laying the groundwork for an ISIS resurgence, 
        damaging the United States standing in the international community and 
        undermining both regional security as well as our own national security: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That is the sense of the Senate--
            (1) to acknowledge the importance of the Kurds' vital role 
        in stopping the spread of ISIS militants in the region;
            (2) that ISIS still poses a danger in the Middle East and 
        beyond and must not be allowed the opportunity to mount an 
        effective resurgence campaign;
            (3) that the United States Government must continue its 
        leading role in promoting peace in the Middle East and fighting 
        against terrorist groups such as ISIS, wherever they may be 
        located; and
            (4) that the Department of Defense, in conjunction with the 
        Department of State, should provide a briefing to Congress 
        within 30 days outlining plans and a strategy to continue the 
        global fight against ISIS, specifically addressing the ongoing 
        threat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq and how this strategy will--
                    (A) prevent an ISIS resurgence in Syria;
                    (B) prevent ISIS efforts to capitalize from recent 
                developments;
                    (C) contain any ISIS expansion in Syria or in 
                nations bordering Syria;
                    (D) mitigate the threat of ISIS attacks on the 
                United States homeland or our partners and allies; and
                    (E) protect the gains made in the fight against 
                ISIS since 2014.
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