[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13425]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       SUPPORTING KURDISH ALLIES

  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our 
Kurdish allies in the Middle East.
  The Kurdish people are one of America's strongest allies in the 
Middle East. In 2003 leading up to the Iraq war, the Kurdish people, 
positioned in the northern part of Iraq, opened their arms to American 
troops and welcomed their liberation after decades of oppression from 
Saddam Hussein's regime.
  Recently, with the ISIS insurgency in Iraq, the Kurdish Regional 
Government has remained firm in protecting Iraq and have managed to 
maintain stability in a volatile region.
  Currently, a Kurdish tanker is anchored off the coast of Texas with 
an estimated $100 million worth of crude oil aboard. The KRG presently 
maintains federal control over their region despite the objections of 
the Iraqi central government. Even though the ship was cleared on 
Sunday by the U.S. Coast Guard, a Federal judge ruled that the cargo 
could be seized by U.S. Marshals at the request of the Iraqi oil 
ministry.
  The claim of misappropriation by the Iraqi oil ministry could be 
viewed as exclusionary. Congress and the administration need to 
pressure the Maliki government to be more inclusive.
  The Kurdish Regional Government, at present, exports billions of 
dollars each year in crude oil to major allies of the United States all 
over the world. It should always be our mission to support our allies 
in the Middle East and move in the right direction in our relationship 
with the Kurds.

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