[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 26, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H2853-H2855]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
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ANNIVERSARY OF MASSACRE OF KURDS BY IRAQI GOVERNMENT
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 379) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives concerning the eighth anniversary of the massacre of
over 5,000 Kurds as a result of a gas bomb attack by the Iraqi
Government.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 379
Whereas over four million Kurds live in Iraq, composing 20
percent of the population;
Whereas the Iraqi Government has continually taken violent
actions against Kurds living in Iraq;
Whereas, on March 17, 1988, the Iraqi Government, by its
own admission, used chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurd
civilians in the Kurdish frontier village of Halabja,
resulting in the death of over 5,000 innocent persons;
Whereas this terrible, inhumane act by the repressive Iraqi
Government provoked international outrage;
Whereas the Iraqi Government continued its use of chemical
weapons against a defenseless Kurdish population throughout
1988;
Whereas over 182,000 Iraqi Kurds were killed by the Iraqi
Government during the Anfal campaigns in 1988;
Whereas it was not until the international response to
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 that the international
community instituted measures to destroy Iraq's arsenal of
weapons of mass destruction;
Whereas the Iraqi Government has laid over 20 million mines
throughout the Kurdish countryside which continue to hamper
efforts of rehabilitation of the displaced population;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 688 of
April 1, 1991, demanded that Iraq cease repression of its
citizens and called for an international relief program for
the Iraqi civilian population and, in particular the Kurdish
population;
Whereas, since the spring of 1991, the United States,
Britain, and France have enforced by daily overflights a no-
fly zone over Iraq north of the 36th parallel;
Whereas, in addition to the allied air umbrella, the United
Nations carries out relief and security operations in Iraq,
with emphasis on the Kurdish region;
Whereas, since 1991, the United States has provided
approximately $1.2 billion to support humanitarian and
protective activities, known as Operation Provide Comfort, on
behalf of the Iraqi Kurds; and
Whereas there will never truly be peace for the Iraqi Kurds
without justice being carried out against their Iraqi
perpetrators: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of
Representatives that the United States Administration
should--
(1) mark the eighth anniversary of the death of over 5,000
Iraqi Kurds in the 1988 chemical attack by the Iraqi
Government on Halabja by commemorating all those innocent
men, women, and children who lost their lives;
(2) reaffirm the United States' commitment to protect and
help the Kurdish people in Iraq, thus ensuring that the
tragedy of Halabja will never be repeated;
(3) support efforts to promote a democratic alternative to
the present regime in Iraq which will assure the Kurdish
people the right to self-government through a federal system;
and
(4) renew efforts to establish an international war crime
tribunal to prosecute Iraqi leaders involved in crimes
against humanity and war crimes.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Upton). Pursuant to the rule, the
gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] and the gentleman from Virginia
[Mr. Moran] will each be recognized for 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman].
(Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 379,
legislation introduced by our distinguished colleague the gentleman
from Illinois [Mr. Porter], which expresses the sense of Congress
regarding the eighth anniversary on March 17, 1996, of the massacre of
5,000 Iraqi Kurds as a result of a gas bomb attack by the Iraqi
Government.
The United States is well aware of the brutal actions of Saddam
Hussein's regime against Iraqi minorities, particularly Iraqi Kurds,
who are now protected in northern Iraq by Operation Provide Comfort.
United States support for Operation Provide Comfort is substantial,
through our participation in monitoring the no-fly zone over Iraq north
of the 36th parallel, and through our approximately $1.2 billion in
humanitarian and protective activities there to assist the Kurds in the
north, in which we are also able to deter Saddam's aggression.
House Resolution 379 recalls the events of March 17, 1988, and calls
upon the administration to: Commemorate the memories of those innocents
who lost their lives in that tragic attack; reaffirm the United States
commitment to protect and assist the Kurdish minority in Iraq, to
ensure that the Halabja massacre does not happen again; support efforts
to promote a democratic alternative to the present regime in Iraq which
will assure the Kurds the right to self-government through a federal
system; and renew efforts to establish an international war crimes
tribunal to prosecute Iraqi leaders involved in crimes against
humanity.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter] is to be
commended for his sponsorship of this resolution, and for his
consistent leadership in fighting for human rights. Accordingly, I
support the gentleman's resolution, and urge my colleagues to support
it as well.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The minority applauds this resolution introduced by the gentleman
from Illinois [Mr. Porter] and appreciates the gentleman from New York
[Mr. Gilman], the chairman, bringing it to the floor. It is appropriate
that we express our sense of outrage over the massacre of 5,000 Kurds
by gas bomb attack. It is a timely reminder that we have to continue
our vigilance and pressure against Iraq with and on behalf of the
international community.
This resolution reaffirms our commitment to protect and to help the
Kurdish people in Iraq. It supports efforts to promote a democratic
alternative to the present regime in Iraq which will assure the Kurdish
people the right to self-government through a federal system, and it
calls on the administration to renew efforts to establish an
international war crimes tribunal to prosecute Iraqi leaders involved
in crimes against humanity and war crimes and their principal leader,
in particular, Saddam Hussein.
So this is a good resolution, and we would urge its adoption.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
distinguished gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter], distinguished co-
chairman of our human rights caucus, who has been a leader in our
battle for human rights and has brought this
[[Page H2854]]
Kurdish problem to our attention for a number of years.
Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for
yielding time to me. I particularly thank him for his tremendous
leadership in fighting for the rights of minorities all across the
world.
He has been steadfast in his support for the Kurdish people, the
largest ethnic group in the world not to have a country of their own,
25 million people divided between Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. The
gentleman from New York has been absolutely outstanding in his
leadership, to draw our attention to their plight in several of these
countries and to fight for their basic human rights.
Mr. Speaker, 8 years ago on March 17, 1988, Saddam Hussein's regime
attacked the Kurdish town of Halabja using poison gas and nerve gas.
Over 5,000 civilians, including women and children, perished in this
attack. Following the attack, the Iraqi Government demonstrated just
how terrible and inhumane it is by continuing its reign of terror
against the Kurds.
Throughout 1988, over 182,000 Iraqi Kurds were killed by the Iraqi
Government in vicious gas attacks. It was not until Iraq's invasion of
Kuwait in 1990 that the international community stepped forward and
took measures to destroy Iraq's arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.
Today the United States and the international community support
efforts to protect the Iraqi Kurds. the United States has been
instrumental in ensuring that humanitarian assistance reaches Kurds in
Iraq and that they are protected from Iraqi Government attacks.
The plight of the Iraqi Kurds, however, remains precarious at best.
Saddam Hussein continues to terrorize the Kurdish region through acts
of sabotage and economic embargo. Additionally, over 20 million land
mines laid by the Iraqi Government throughout the Kurdish countryside
continually hamper relief efforts. Today there are posed on the edge of
the Kurdish area 100,000 Iraqi troops threatening those areas.
Mr. Speaker, the Iraqi Government refuses to guarantee its citizens
basic human rights and the right to live under the rule of law. The
United Nations imposed sanctions as a result of Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait. Saddam Hussein continuously refuses to comply with the U.N.
Security Council resolutions.
As a result, the economy continues to deteriorate, but it is not
Saddam Hussein who suffers the terrible cost of a debilitating economy,
Mr. Speaker. Instead, those who bear the burden of a dictator's cruel
and senseless policy are the innocent citizens who are refused the
right to change their government and whose freedoms of expression and
association are denied. Basic human rights only exist in the Kurdish-
controlled areas in the north because of the protection of
international forces.
Iraq must continue to be ostracized from the community of nations,
Mr. Speaker, until its conduct begins to approach a respect for basic
rights of each human being to live, to worship and to speak according
to the dictates of his or her own conscience.
We must never ever forget those Iraqi Kurds who lost their lives as
the result of the terrible, despicable acts of a repressive dictator.
Mr. Speaker, the responsibility falls to us to ensure that their memory
forever remains alive.
Mr. Speaker, past events make crystal clear that Saddam Hussein would
attack the Kurds tomorrow if the United States did not protect them.
Since 1991, Operation Provide Comfort has provided humanitarian
assistance and protective activities on behalf of the Iraqi Kurds.
Without the support both morally and economically of the United
States, I believe without the slightest doubt that many more innocent
Kurdish men, women, and children would have lost their lives. The
United States must continue to stand with those like the Iraqi Kurds
who refuse to surrender their basic human rights to the present
repressive and monstrous ways of dictators like Saddam Hussein.
Mr. Speaker, with the passage of this resolution today, Congress will
go on record as commemorating the March 17, 1988 attack on the Iraqi
Kurds and reaffirming strong United States support for the Kurdish
people of Iraq. I strongly urge the adoption of this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, let me also comment upon a related matter. Recently our
ally, Turkey, has chosen a new prime minister, Mesut Yilmaz. He has
recently called for a new dialog with Greece that would intend to
resolve many ongoing disputes and to bring Turkey and Greece into the
kind of relation, or allies with one another, that would reflect well
upon both countries and would lead to a lessening of tensions in the
geographic region.
As part of that announcement, Prime Minister Yilmaz also said that he
would like to open a border gate with Armenia, if he saw clear signs of
progress toward a peace settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan in
their 5-year war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
He also said, Mr. Speaker, that regarding the repression of the Kurds
in southern Turkey by the Turkish Government, that he would put upon
the table a plan that would include granting the Kurds in Turkey
cultural liberties such as the Kurdish language education that moderate
Kurdish groups have long sought.
Mr. Speaker, he said also that the state of emergency would gradually
be lifted in the southeast region and that measures would be taken to
stimulate its economy which has suffered during the long conflict.
Mr. Speaker, he said that, and I quote, ``after having witnessed such
terrible events in the past, after losing 15,000 people. I believe we
have come to a common understanding that this problem can be solved
only by peaceful means and not by military means.''
Mr. Speaker, this is extremely good news. This is what the United
States and those of us in Congress concerned with the plight of the
Kurds in Turkey have long sought. If the Turkish Government can follow
through and the Turkish people can support their new prime minister in
this endeavor, I believe that the lives of thousands and thousands of
innocent people, part of the Kurdish minority as well as the lives of
Turkish citizens will be spared.
I commend the new prime minister, Mr. Yilmaz, on taking this
initiative. I know that it takes great political courage in Turkey to
do so. We will promise that we will work together with the Turkish
Government to achieve the settlement of differences with Greece, the
opening of a positive relationship with Armenia and on the resolution
of the terrible conflict in southeast Turkey that has claimed so many
lives, made so many people homeless and refugees in their own country
and had plagued the entire country for such a long, long time.
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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
I want to commend the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter] first and
foremost for this fine resolution and for his leadership on these
issues. He has been tenacious over the years in raising the issue of
the such maligned and troubled Kurds who have suffered so much, and I
want to thank him for remembering, through this resolution, that
horrible day when some 5,000 people were killed by poison gas.
I will never forget the picture of that mother clutching her young
child, with the child's mouth gaping open. As a result of the gas, the
impact of the gas, there was a look of absolute fright on both mother
and baby; just one of the Kurds killed by Saddam Hussein, one of the
many.
I also want to remind everyone that the regime of Saddam Hussein
continues to kill, torture and illegally imprison members of the
Kurdish minority in Iraq, as well as anyone else who displeases the
regime. Relief workers who have gone in to help the Kurdish refugees
have also been the victims of extrajudicial executions as well as
disappearances.
Mr. Speaker, back in the early 1990's I was part of the Speaker's
mission that went to the refugee camps on the border of Turkey and Iraq
and met with many of the Kurds who were fleeing the repression. It was
right in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, and the Republican
Guard were in hot pursuit of this Kurdish minority. It was very
compelling and encouraging for me to see how our military carried on
``Operation Provide Comfort.'' They came in, they organized, and they
were able to provide the logistical support
[[Page H2855]]
for medicines and food to be dispersed, and thousands of Kurds were
spared because of the humanitarian efforts of the United States
military as part of ``Operation Provide Comfort''. After several
months, the situation was stabilized, and the baton was passed to the
nongovernmental organizations that then carried on the good work of
providing this important relief.
Mr. Speaker, as my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from
Illinois [Mr. Porter], pointed out, the Kurds do suffer much in Turkey
as well. We have had hearings, on the subject including one just this
morning. The gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran] was there, the
gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman], the gentleman from Illinois [Mr.
Hyde] and other members of our committee and subcommittee, and we
focused on one of these areas, the proposed sale of Cobras to Turkey.
As the chair of the Subcommittee on International Operations & Human
Rights I believe that it would be outrageous to send Cobras to Turkey
after the military might of the Turkish regime has been used in an
ethnic cleansing effort against the Kurds, again another sad chapter in
the kind of cruelty that these people have had to endure.
What is pointed out in this resolution, the massacre of the 5,000, is
but one rather large and very terrible event in a series of tragedies
that have been visited upon the suffering Kurdish minorities. So this
is an important resolution, and I urge its passage.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of the time.
Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, let me just say I am encouraged by what the gentleman
from Illinois [Mr. Porter] shared with us in terms of the new
leadership in Turkey. That is major progress, to consider opening up
the supply lines, economic and humanitarian supply lines, to Armenia if
we can make progress in terms of the conflict with Azerbaijan.
Certainly, starting to hear the relationship with Greece is a step in
the right direction. Some of us would like to see a recognition of the
Armenian genocide, which has been a problem in terms of improved
relations with Turkey. But perhaps with new leadership we will continue
to move forward.
This resolution, however, is entirely in order, and we strongly
support it.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Upton). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, House Resolution 379.
The question was taken.
Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, on that demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5, rule I, and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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