117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. CON. RES. 16
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas, in March 1991, Saddam Hussein responded to an uprising in Iraqi Kurdistan with a violent military campaign that included the use of chemical weapons against the citizens of Iraqi Kurdistan, most of whom were unarmed civilians;
Whereas Saddam Hussein's forces killed approximately 200,000 Iraqi Kurds, destroyed approximately 4,500 Iraqi Kurdish villages, and displaced hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Kurds who fled to the northern and eastern borders of Iraq, fearing that the regime would use chemical weapons against them, as it did during Saddam Hussein’s Anfal campaign, including the Halabja chemical weapon attack only 3 years before;
Whereas, at one point in the early days of the 1991 crisis, the daily death toll of fleeing Iraqi Kurds exceeded 1,000, with victims succumbing to exposure, malnutrition, and disease;
Whereas, the United States, in response to the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, led Operation Provide Comfort, delivering humanitarian relief and enforcing a no-fly zone, saving the lives of countless thousands of Iraqi Kurds from near certain death on the freezing and rugged border mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan;
Whereas Operation Provide Comfort provided security and stability in Iraqi Kurdistan; 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
That Congress—
commemorates the 30th anniversary of Operation Provide Comfort;
recognizes and honors the soldiers, diplomats, political leaders, and coalition partners of the United States who implemented Operation Provide Comfort;
recognizes and honors the nearly 2,000,000 Iraqis, mostly Kurds, who were displaced by the Hussein regime and who survived starvation and exposure, and for whom Operation Provide Comfort offered assistance, security, and a chance for a new life;
encourages Iraqi Kurdish leaders to continue to uphold the values of democracy, human rights, and freedom; and
reaffirms—
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
the enduring respect and support of Congress for Iraqi Kurds, who continue to stand with the United States in shared opposition to extremism and terrorism.
Passed the Senate December 15, 2022.
Secretary