[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12187]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 INTRODUCING THE IRAQ AND SYRIA GENOCIDE RELIEF AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT 
                                OF 2016

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 9, 2016

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce H.R. 
5961, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 
2016. Since ISIS' blitzkrieg across the multiethnic and religiously 
diverse mosaic of eastern Syria and western Iraq in 2014, I have 
chaired four hearings focused on the implications of this appalling 
advance for religious and ethnic minorities in those areas. Events in 
the region and the expert testimony of witnesses quickly revealed that 
ISIS was not merely focused on territorial conquest--the group was 
ideologically committed to exterminating ancient religious communities 
and cleansing its self-proclaimed caliphate of anything but its vicious 
and fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. Many of my colleagues and I 
were certain early on that ISIS was committing genocide. We pressed the 
Administration to formally acknowledge that fact until the Secretary of 
State did so in March of this year. But the most pressing question 
issue has always been the lives of those religious minorities right now 
that face extinction under this tyranny of terror.
  The Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2016 is 
an answer to the question of what the United States can do to mitigate 
this suffering, save lives, and build a more sustainable future for 
Syria and Iraq. The bill tackles this overwhelming challenge on three 
fronts by directing the Administration to take additional measures to 
improve the lives of displaced genocide survivors, provide some of them 
with an additional lifeline to escape their war torn lands, and support 
efforts that will help preserve the presence of religious minority 
communities in those areas for years to come.
  In a hearing this May that I chaired called ``The ISIS Genocide 
Declaration: What Next?'' Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights 
of Columbus--who has been a leader in drawing attention to the plight 
of Christians in this conflict--testified that ``Repeatedly we hear 
from Church leaders in the region that Christians--and other genocide 
survivors--are last in line for assistance from governments.'' We can 
and must do better. To that end, H.R. 5961 requires the Administration 
to assess and address the humanitarian vulnerabilities, needs, and 
triggers to flee, of religious and ethnic communities that were 
targeted for genocide or otherwise severely persecuted. It directs the 
Administration to fund entities that are effectively providing 
assistance to these communities and guarantees that faith-based 
organizations on the ground are not excluded from U.S. assistance.
  One such example is the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil, which 
provides assistance to internally displaced families of Yezidis, 
Muslims, and Christians, including food and resettlement from tents to 
permanent housing, as well as rental assistance, for Yezidis, medical 
care and education to Yezidis and Muslims through its clinics, schools, 
and university--which are open to everyone. The Archdiocese provides 
some form of each of these kinds of assistance to all of the estimated 
10,500 internally displaced Christian families in the greater Erbil 
region. Yet as it provides these critical services, it has not received 
a single penny from any government. H.R. 5961 is clear that the 
Administration must be supporting entities, regardless of whether they 
are faith-based, that are heroically providing assistance to genocide 
survivors on the ground.
  In recognition of the extraordinary suffering of these religious and 
ethnic communities, and their extraordinary vulnerability to 
persecution, H.R. 5961 requires the Administration to create a Priority 
Two, or ``P-2,'' visa category of special humanitarian concern that 
would provide one additional avenue for genocide survivors to seek 
resettlement in the United States through the U.S. Refugee Admissions 
Program. It is important to note that this is not a ``fast track'' to 
resettlement--P-2 applicants undergo the same security screening as all 
refugee applicants. But this special category allows them to access an 
overseas interview wherever the United States interviews refugee 
applicants, without needing a referral from the UN, an NGO, or a US 
Embassy, as is usually the case.
  This bill also addresses a critical factor that will influence the 
continued presence of smaller, vulnerable religious communities in 
Syria and Iraq beyond this conflict: accountability for those who 
perpetrate heinous crimes against them. H.R. 5961 directs the 
Administration to prioritize supporting the criminal investigation, 
prosecution, and conviction of perpetrators of genocide, crimes against 
humanity, and war crimes. These efforts will be focused on funding and 
supporting entities that are conducting criminal investigations, 
building Syrian and Iraqi investigative and judicial capacity, or 
collecting and preserving evidence for eventual use in domestic courts, 
hybrid courts, or internationalized domestic courts. Whether they are 
members of the Assad regime, ISIS, or some of the Popular Mobilization 
Brigades in Iraq, there can be no impunity for individuals who 
committed these dreadful crimes.
  H.R. 5961 also directs the Administration to identify gaps in our 
criminal statutes to facilitate the prosecution of American 
perpetrators, and non-Americans present in the United States, of crimes 
against humanity and war crimes.
  Without accountability, without humanitarian assistance reaching 
these religious and ethnic communities, we risk losing the invaluable, 
ancient presence of these communities in these countries altogether. 
This will feed violent extremism and dim the future of Iraq and Syria.
  I urge my House colleagues to support this measure that will deliver 
immediate assistance to genocide survivors, help prosecute and punish 
perpetrators, and invest in a sustainable future for these persecuted 
religious and ethnic communities in the lands in which they have lived 
for so many generations.

                          ____________________