[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 183 (Wednesday, December 16, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8730-S8732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONDEMNING THE ONGOING SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN FROM 
YEZIDI, CHRISTIAN, SHABAK, TURKMEN, AND OTHER RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES BY 
               ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND SYRIA MILITANTS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 297, S. Res. 310.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 310) condemning the ongoing sexual 
     violence against women and children from Yezidi, Christian, 
     Shabak, Turkmen, and other religious communities by Islamic 
     State of Iraq and Syria militants and urging the prosecution 
     of the perpetrators and those complicit in these crimes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I am here to support the bipartisan 
efforts and goals of my colleagues in S. Res. 310, which condemns the 
ongoing sexual violence perpetrated by ISIL against women and children 
from Yezidi and other religious communities.
  The horrific and despicable actions of ISIL against women and girls 
who were kidnapped, enslaved, tortured, raped, and impregnated in 
conflict-affected regions there and others around the world are one of 
the horrors of terrorism. This resolution addresses it, but it could 
and should have gone much further. In fact, it lacks the recognition of 
the full range of support that Yezidi survivors of sexual violence 
desperately need. That is the reason that I offered two amendments to 
improve this important resolution, to urge the President to exercise 
his existing authority. No new author is necessary for him to provide 
and support age-appropriate, comprehensive post-violence care, 
including the provision of treatment to prevent HIV infection, trauma 
and surgical care, mental health services, social and legal support, 
and a full range of medically necessary reproductive health services, 
including emergency contraception, safe abortion care, and maternal 
health services.
  When the horrors that ISIL inflicts on the Yezidis came to light in 
the New York Times report entitled ``ISIS Enshrines a Theology of 
Rape,'' including systematic rape of women and children in ISIL-held 
territory, I demanded that our great Nation take action. I refer my 
colleagues' attention to that article.
  We cannot allow for the continued use of rape as a tool of warfare to 
destabilize and disrupt communities, to

[[Page S8731]]

exert control over women and girls, and in the case of the Yezidis, to 
impregnate them purposefully and relentlessly. Survivors should not be 
forced to carry pregnancies to full term simply because access to 
reproductive health care is not available following their vicious 
assault.
  We cannot stand idly by while witnessing such violations of human 
rights and dignity. The United States must work to increase access to 
reproductive health care for the vulnerable populations, particularly 
safe abortion services, and most especially for the Yezidi girls and 
women who were purposefully impregnated as a tool of terrorism by ISIL.
  I have called on the administration multiple times to confront this 
horror. In September, I wrote a letter with five of my Democratic 
colleagues to Secretary Kerry, calling on the State Department to 
declare Iraqi religious minorities, including the Yezidis, as protected 
priority groups so they could seek refugee assistance within Iraq's 
border.
  In October, I wrote a letter with 27 of my Democratic colleagues, 
calling on the President to take action to properly implement existing 
law. Existing law includes the Helms amendment. Tomorrow is the 42nd 
anniversary of the Helms amendment. For its entire existence, the Helms 
amendment has been incorrectly interpreted, and it continues to serve 
as a critical obstacle in our foreign aid efforts to provide for safe 
abortions in the case of rape, incest, and life endangerment.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the letter and the 
response of the administration dated December 7, 2015, be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                 Washington, DC, October 22, 2015.
     President Barack Obama,
     The White House,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: We write to express our deep concern 
     for the reproductive health of women and girls who are 
     kidnapped, enslaved, tortured, raped, and impregnated in 
     conflict-affected zones worldwide. Rape is increasingly used 
     as a tool of warfare to destabilize communities, exert 
     control over women and girls, and in some cases purposely 
     impregnate them, as executed by Boko Haram in Nigeria and the 
     Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria and Iraq. 
     Survivors are forced to carry pregnancies to full term 
     because access to reproductive healthcare is not available 
     following their assault. We cannot be bystanders to such 
     gross violations of the human dignity of these women and 
     girls. If the U.S. does not work to increase access to 
     reproductive healthcare for vulnerable populations, 
     particularly safe abortion services, there will be negative, 
     long-term consequences. As such, we implore you to take the 
     following actions to confront this crisis.
       We request you take action to correct the overly 
     constrained implementation of the Helms Amendment which 
     serves as a critical barrier to safe abortion, particularly 
     impacting women and girls fleeing conflict. Although the 
     Helms Amendment prevents U.S. foreign aid from being used to 
     perform abortions for family planning purposes, for over 40 
     years it has been incorrectly interpreted to prevent the use 
     of foreign aid to fund safe abortions even in the cases of 
     rape, incest, or life endangerment. These three cases clearly 
     fall outside the restrictions enacted by the Helms Amendment. 
     As such, we urge you to issue guidance to the relevant 
     agencies, allowing them to support safe abortion services in 
     at least the limited circumstances of rape, incest, or life 
     endangerment, including for survivors of conflict-related 
     sexual violence.
       Subsequently, we urge you to exercise your existing 
     authority to ensure U.S. foreign aid does not stand in the 
     way of women and girls fleeing conflict who seek abortion 
     services. The Helms Amendment restricts U.S. foreign aid from 
     being used to pay for abortion even in countries where 
     abortion is permissible by local law. For instance, although 
     abortion remains illegal in Syria and Iraq, regional 
     countries which receive U.S. foreign assistance--Turkey, 
     Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt--have welcomed millions of 
     refugees and have varying legal exceptions or allowances for 
     abortions related to rape, incest, or life endangerment, 
     which are undermined by limitations imposed by this policy.
       Finally, we applaud commitments made by this Administration 
     to address these issues, including those made last year at 
     the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict and 
     those in the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and 
     Security (NAP). We request that you further strengthen 
     actions taken under the NAP implementation plan. A high-level 
     objective of the NAP is ensuring women's access to relief and 
     recovery in a manner that recognizes the unique needs of 
     women and girls in conflict-affected zones and the need to 
     provide humanitarian services. As expressly noted in the NAP, 
     women's access to relief and recovery can be addressed by 
     ``support[ing] access to reproductive health in emergencies 
     and humanitarian settings.'' As such, we encourage increased 
     attention to this matter and request a report of the 
     Administration's comprehensive review and update to the NAP, 
     scheduled to be released this year. We also ask that the 
     Administration provide an assessment of how the relevant 
     agencies are fulfilling their respective duties to provide 
     access to the full range of reproductive healthcare.
       We look forward to working with you to ensure these actions 
     are implemented. As the world's largest aid donor, the U.S. 
     can and should endeavor to provide the reproductive 
     healthcare that is desperately needed by some of the world's 
     most vulnerable populations.
           Sincerely,
         Richard Blumenthal; Jeanne Shaheen; Kirsten E. 
           Gillibrand; Barbara Boxer; Michael F. Bennet; Claire 
           McCaskill; Mazie K. Hirono; Patty Murray; Edward J. 
           Markey; Patrick J. Leahy; Al Franken; Sherrod Brown; 
           Christopher A. Coons; Brian Schatz; Cory A. Booker; 
           Elizabeth Warren; Maria Cantwell; Charles E. Schumer; 
           Tammy Baldwin; Barbara A. Mikulski; Christopher Murphy; 
           Richard J. Durbin; Ron Wyden; Bernard Sanders; Dianne 
           Feinstein; Debbie Stabenow; Gary C. Peters; Amy 
           Klobuchar.
                                  ____



                                     U.S. Department of State,

                                 Washington, DC, December 7, 2015.
     Hon. Richard Blumenthal,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Blumenthal: Thank you for your letter of 
     October 22 to President Obama regarding your concern about 
     access to reproductive health care in conflict settings. We 
     have been asked to respond on the President's behalf.
       The Department of State and the U.S. Agency for 
     International Development take this issue very seriously. The 
     Helms Amendment has prohibited since 1973 the use of U.S. 
     foreign assistance to pay for the performance of abortion as 
     a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any 
     person to practice abortions. We review our policies on an 
     ongoing basis to ensure maximum effectiveness in improving 
     health outcomes, including for those who are highly 
     vulnerable to sexual violence because of conflict or other 
     crises.
       Through our policies and investments, we continue to 
     demonstrate our commitment to rights and protection of women 
     and girls worldwide. We do so by working with the 
     international community, including the UN Population Fund, 
     the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the International 
     Committee of the Red Cross, and other development and 
     humanitarian organizations. We work together to: respond to 
     the challenges of increasing access to reproductive health 
     services in crisis settings; strengthen global coordination 
     to prevent sexual violence; promote justice and 
     accountability; and provide health care, including sexual and 
     reproductive health services.
       The U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security 
     outlines the United States' commitment to the protection and 
     participation of women in a broad range of efforts to resolve 
     conflict and sustain peace. The Department of State and other 
     agencies are reviewing the NAP under the auspices of the 
     National Security Council. This interagency review reflects 
     our commitment to accountable implementation and rigorous 
     learning of best practices. Upon completion of the review 
     later this year, the Department would be pleased to brief you 
     and your staff on relevant findings.
       Your letter provides valuable input on these important 
     issues. We welcome any additional input you or your staff may 
     have, and look forward to continued dialogue.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Julia Frifield,
                         Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs.

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. The letter very simply asks that the administration 
``take action to correct the overly constrained implementation of the 
Helms amendment which serves as a critical barrier to safe abortion, 
particularly impacting women and girls fleeing conflict.'' The letter 
asks that the administration recognize that American foreign aid can be 
used to fund safe abortions even in the cases of rape, incest, or life 
endangerment. That is a very simple principle.
  Preventing our foreign aid funds from being used for that purpose not 
only denies critical assistance to Yezidi girls and women, but also 
overly constrains the assistance of this great Nation to the victims of 
terror and horror abroad.
  Today, the U.S. Senate will adopt S. Res. 310, and I have joined in 
supporting it. I am deeply disappointed that the administration has 
essentially denied even considering a change in policy. This action 
does not mean that the United States should be complacent regarding the 
dismal state of protection for the Yezidi girls and women.
  The amendments I offered were rejected by my Republican colleagues,

[[Page S8732]]

and I understand my colleagues' goal of expressing concern for girls 
and women and others. Despite my reservation and profound 
disappointment with the administration's reaction to and the denial of 
these two amendments, I am supporting this resolution. I have withdrawn 
my amendments, recognizing the reality of our current situation on the 
floor of the U.S. Senate, but it remains essential that we recognize 
the full scope of the post-rape health care needed by survivors of 
rape. These victims have been hideously and gruesomely used as a tool 
of terrorism invoked by ISIL.
  Fully countering ISIL's terrorist strategy means providing necessary 
and compassionate care for girls and women who have been victims and 
have been shunned by their families. They have been rejected by their 
communities. They have been victims many times over as a result of 
these heinous crimes committed against them.
  I hope that my fellow Senators will join me as I continue to call on 
the administration to right this wrong. As the world's largest donor of 
assistance around the world, the United States can and should do better 
and do more to provide health care that girls and women vitally need 
when they become vulnerable and, in fact, victims of terror inflicted 
by these heinous criminal acts.
  I thank the Presiding Officer, and I yield the floor.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Lankford amendment to the resolution be agreed to; that the resolution, 
as amended, be agreed to; that the preamble be agreed to; and that the 
motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 2931) was agreed to, as follows:

   (Purpose: To define ``complicit'' for purposes of the resolution)

       On page 3, line 4, insert ``by Islamic State of Iraq and 
     Syria militants'' before the semicolon at the end.
       On page 3, line 10, strike ``and''.
       On page 4, line 2, strike the period at the end and 
     inserting ``; and''.
       On page 4, after line 2, add the following:
       (4) defines ``complicit'', for purposes of this resolution, 
     as having knowingly and willingly taken actions which have 
     directly supported, promoted, enabled, aided, abetted, or 
     encouraged crimes involving sexual violence against women and 
     children from Yezidi, Christian, Shabak, Turkmen, or other 
     religious communities by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria 
     militants, including actively working to deny, cover up, or 
     alter evidence of such crimes.

  The resolution (S. Res. 310), as amended, was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 310

       Whereas the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has 
     publicly and systematically targeted communities on the basis 
     of their religious identities, including Yezidis, Christians, 
     Shi'a Muslims, Shabaks, Turkmens, and Kaka'i, in a campaign 
     of violence that includes summary executions, beheadings, 
     torture, arbitrary detainment, forced displacement, rape and 
     sexual violence, and enslavement;
       Whereas enslavement and sexual violence against women is a 
     widespread practice among ISIS militants, who have, according 
     to the Yezidi Affairs Directory, captured and enslaved as 
     many as 5,500 Yezidis, including as many as 3,000 women, 
     since August 2014;
       Whereas ISIS has established a formal slave trade in which 
     women and girls as young as 5 years old are systematically 
     abducted, transported, categorized according to physical 
     traits and perceived value, and traded among ISIS militants 
     or sold for as little as $10;
       Whereas the Research and Fatwa Department of ISIS has 
     issued guidelines and directions for the enslavement of 
     Yezidi women and children and has justified the actions on 
     the basis of religious teachings;
       Whereas the New York Times reported that ``the Islamic 
     State has developed a detailed bureaucracy of sex slavery, 
     including sales contracts notarized by the ISIS-run Islamic 
     courts'';
       Whereas according to various reports, including testimony 
     before Congress by Khidher Domle, a Yezidi activist and 
     Director of the Media Department at the University of Dohuk, 
     the enslavement and sexual violence used against Yezidi women 
     and children by ISIS militants in their attack on Mount 
     Sinjar was premeditated;
       Whereas ISIS has initiated the mass killing of Yezidi men 
     and boys, the sexual violence and enslavement of Yezidi women 
     and children, and the forced displacement of Christians and 
     other religious communities;
       Whereas the threat and reach of ISIS extends beyond Iraq 
     and Syria into the rest of the world, as demonstrated by 
     ISIS-affiliated attacks and recruitment of foreign fighters 
     from the United States, Europe, Central Asia, and Africa;
       Whereas, according to testimony presented before the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
     on September 29, 2015, it is possible that one of the ISIS 
     militants involved in the sexual slavery of Yezidi women and 
     children is a United States citizen; and
       Whereas the United States Government should investigate and 
     urge prosecution of American citizens who are perpetrators of 
     or complicit in such crimes: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the ongoing sexual violence against women and 
     children from Yezidi, Christian, Shabak, Turkmen, and other 
     religious communities by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria 
     militants;
       (2) calls on the Attorney General to commence the 
     investigation and prosecution of any United States citizens 
     alleged to be perpetrators of or complicit in these crimes 
     and to report back to Congress what steps are being taken to 
     investigate and urge the prosecution of those involved;
       (3) calls on the Government of Iraq and the governments of 
     other countries to identify individual perpetrators and 
     individuals involved in these crimes and take appropriate 
     measures to arrest and urge the prosecution of those 
     individuals; and
       (4) defines ``complicit'', for purposes of this resolution, 
     as having knowingly and willingly taken actions which have 
     directly supported, promoted, enabled, aided, abetted, or 
     encouraged crimes involving sexual violence against women and 
     children from Yezidi, Christian, Shabak, Turkmen, or other 
     religious communities by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria 
     militants, including actively working to deny, cover up, or 
     alter evidence of such crimes.

                          ____________________