[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 16 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. CON. RES. 16

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas, in March 1991, Saddam Hussein responded to an uprising in Iraqi 
        Kurdistan with a violent military campaign that included the use of 
        chemical weapons against the citizens of Iraqi Kurdistan, most of whom 
        were unarmed civilians;
Whereas Saddam Hussein's forces killed approximately 200,000 Iraqi Kurds, 
        destroyed approximately 4,500 Iraqi Kurdish villages, and displaced 
        hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Kurds who fled to the northern and 
        eastern borders of Iraq, fearing that the regime would use chemical 
        weapons against them, as it did during Saddam Hussein's Anfal campaign, 
        including the Halabja chemical weapon attack only 3 years before;
Whereas, at one point in the early days of the 1991 crisis, the daily death toll 
        of fleeing Iraqi Kurds exceeded 1,000, with victims succumbing to 
        exposure, malnutrition, and disease;
Whereas, the United States, in response to the unfolding humanitarian 
        catastrophe, led Operation Provide Comfort, delivering humanitarian 
        relief and enforcing a no-fly zone, saving the lives of countless 
        thousands of Iraqi Kurds from near certain death on the freezing and 
        rugged border mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan;
Whereas Operation Provide Comfort provided security and stability in Iraqi 
        Kurdistan; and
Whereas the Kurdistan regional government and the Kurdish Peshmerga remain 
        steadfast partners of the United States in the fight against extremism 
        and terrorism: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) commemorates the 30th anniversary of Operation Provide 
        Comfort;
            (2) recognizes and honors the soldiers, diplomats, 
        political leaders, and coalition partners of the United States 
        who implemented Operation Provide Comfort;
            (3) recognizes and honors the nearly 2,000,000 Iraqis, 
        mostly Kurds, who were displaced by the Hussein regime and who 
        survived starvation and exposure, and for whom Operation 
        Provide Comfort offered assistance, security, and a chance for 
        a new life;
            (4) encourages Iraqi Kurdish leaders to continue to uphold 
        the values of democracy, human rights, and freedom; and
            (5) reaffirms--
                    (A) the strong partnership between the United 
                States and the Iraqi Kurds, which exists in 
                complementarity with the United States strong 
                partnership with the Government of Iraq; and
                    (B) the enduring respect and support of Congress 
                for Iraqi Kurds, who continue to stand with the United 
                States in shared opposition to extremism and terrorism.

            Passed the Senate December 15, 2022.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
117th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                            S. CON. RES. 16

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

    Commemorating the 30th anniversary of Operation Provide Comfort.