[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 187 (Monday, October 25, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 16--COMMEMORATING THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF 
                       OPERATION PROVIDE COMFORT

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. Rubio) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 16

       Whereas, after the uprising against Saddam Hussein in March 
     1991, Hussein turned tanks and helicopter gunships on the 
     defenseless citizens of Iraqi Kurdistan;
       Whereas, overwhelmed by the superior firepower of the 
     Hussein regime, and having already experienced the genocidal 
     death of approximately 200,000 Iraqi Kurds, the wanton 
     destruction of approximately 4,500 Iraqi Kurdish villages, 
     and deadly chemical bombardment, hundreds of thousands of 
     Iraqi Kurdish men, women, and children fled to the northern 
     and eastern borders of Iraq, fearing that the regime would 
     use poison gas against them, as during the Anfal campaign and 
     in Halabja only 3 years before;
       Whereas, at one point in the early days of the 1991 refugee 
     crisis, the daily death toll of fleeing Iraqi Kurds exceeded 
     1,000, with victims having no time to gather any possessions 
     or winter protective gear and thus succumbing to exposure, 
     malnutrition, and disease;
       Whereas the United States, in response to the unfolding 
     human catastrophe, led what became the largest humanitarian 
     operation of its kind ever, Operation Provide Comfort, 
     delivering humanitarian relief and enforcing a no-fly zone;
       Whereas Operation Provide Comfort saved the lives of 
     countless thousands of Iraqi Kurds from near certain death on 
     the freezing and rugged border mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan;
       Whereas, to this day, Iraqi Kurds credit United States-led 
     Operation Provide Comfort, particularly the no-fly zone that 
     protected the Iraqi Kurdish people until 2003, for helping 
     support security and stability in Iraqi Kurdistan;
       Whereas Iraqi Kurdistan has long served as a safe haven for 
     people fleeing conflict and religious and political 
     persecution; 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 heroic soldiers, diplomats, 
     political leaders, and coalition partners of the United 
     States who implemented Operation Provide Comfort;
       (3) recognizes and honors the bravery of the nearly 
     2,000,000 Iraqi Kurdish women, children, and men who 
     struggled to survive starvation and exposure, welcomed the 
     aid that came, and embraced the opportunity for a new life;
       (4) encourages Iraqi Kurdish leaders to continue to uphold 
     the values of democracy, human rights, and freedom that have 
     made Iraqi Kurdistan an oasis in a troubled region; 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 
     Kurdish friends of the United States who courageously stand 
     with the United States in shared opposition to extremism and 
     terrorism.

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