Chris Smith: “Since 2013, I have chaired nine Congressional hearings focused, in whole or in a large part, on atrocities in Iraq and…”

“Since 2013, I have chaired nine Congressional hearings focused, in whole or in a large part, on atrocities in Iraq and Syria. At one hearing in December of 2015, Professor Gregory Stanton, President of Genocide Watch testified that ``weak words are not enough'' noting that twenty one human rights organizations, genocide scholars, and religious leaders wrote to President Obama imploring him to recognize the ISIS genocide. At the same hearing, Chaldean Bishop Francis Kalabat testified that ``since the fall of Mosul in early June 2014, Christians have endured targeted persecution in the form of forced displacement, sexual violence, and other human rights violations.'' He said ``ISIS has committed horrific atrocities against the Yazidis.'' The bishop said Christians are ``under threat of extinction.'' On May 9, 2016, the House passed Jeff Fortenberry's Genocide resolution 393 to 0. A few days later, Secretary of State John Kerry declared ISIS atrocities to be a genocide. The existential threat to Christians and Yazidis and other minorities continues to this day. Some of the fortunate ones, however, have made it to relative safety in Erbil but astonishingly have not gotten assistance from the United States. Since 2014, the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil has been providing almost all of the medical care, food, shelter and education received by 13,200 Christian families, almost one third of Christians remaining in Iraq, who escaped ISIS.…”