Bill Sponsor
BILLSPONSOR
Bill Sponsor
Politicians
Bills
Senate Concurrent Resolution 16
117th Congress(2021-2022)
A concurrent resolution commemorating the 30th anniversary of Operation Provide Comfort.
Active
Active
Passed Senate on Dec 15, 2022
Overview
Text
No Linkage Found
About Linkage
Multiple bills can contain the same text. This could be an identical bill in the opposite chamber or a smaller bill with a section embedded in a larger bill.
Bill Sponsor regularly scans bill texts to find sections that are contained in other bill texts. When a matching section is found, the bills containing that section can be viewed by clicking "View Bills" within the bill text section.
Bill Sponsor is currently only finding exact word-for-word section matches. In a future release, partial matches will be included.
No Linkage Found
About Linkage
Multiple bills can contain the same text. This could be an identical bill in the opposite chamber or a smaller bill with a section embedded in a larger bill.
Bill Sponsor regularly scans bill texts to find sections that are contained in other bill texts. When a matching section is found, the bills containing that section can be viewed by clicking "View Bills" within the bill text section.
Bill Sponsor is currently only finding exact word-for-word section matches. In a future release, partial matches will be included.
Jump To
S. CON. RES. 16 (Introduced-in-Senate)


117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. CON. RES. 16


Commemorating the 30th anniversary of Operation Provide Comfort.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

October 25, 2021

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

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Commemorating the 30th anniversary of Operation Provide Comfort.

    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.