[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 682 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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).


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                    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 equipment 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 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 
        motivated force that we can enable.'';
Whereas in 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated 
        that the Kurdistan Region hosted approximately 220,000 Syrian refugees 
        and 700,000 internally 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 almost 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, humanitarian, and security crisis in the Kurdistan Region 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 displaced 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.
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