William Helms: “I join with my distinguished friend, Senator Pell, the able ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, in…”

“I join with my distinguished friend, Senator Pell, the able ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, in recalling the massacre of thousands of Kurdish civilians 8 years ago at the town of Halabja. On March 16, 1988, Iraqi jets, without warning, dropped chemical weapons on Halabja, a Kurdish village in northern Iraq. The attack, horrific even by Iraq's barbaric standards, killed thousands of unarmed men, women, and children. The massacre at Halabja drew attention to Saddam Hussein's campaign of genocide directed against the Kurds of northern Iraq. However, that attention was not enough to prevent the systematic killing of hundreds of thousands of Kurdish civilians by the Government of Iraq. Mr. President, I must commend Senator Pell for being one of the few willing to speak out about the plight of the Kurds. I worked with him in 1988 to sanction Iraq for its reprehensible behavior. Had more people around the world, and especially here in the United States, heeded Senator Pell's pleas to protect the Kurds, perhaps more could have been saved. The final act of this tragedy, however, has not yet played out. Saddam Hussein has not abandoned his crusade against the Kurdish citizens of Iraq. If he cannot eliminate them, he will do all he can to deprive them of their basic human rights. Mr. President, thanks to Senator Pell, the plight of the Kurds has the attention of the world. They must never be forgotten.”