KRG representative calls on Kurdish-American community to contact US congress members
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) representative in Washington, calls upon the Kurdish American community to urge members of Congress to co-sponsor a resolution that recognizes the Kurdistan-US partnership.
Ask your member of Congress to join the 26 Representatives & 2 Senators who sponsored the resolution that honors the Kurdistan-US partnership. It recognizes the heroes of Operation Provide Comfort and the courage of the Kurdish people who rose up in 1991https://t.co/SAzSzKspiG
— Bayan Sami Rahman (@BayanRahman) February 10, 2022
“Ask your member of Congress to join the 26 Representatives & 2 Senators who sponsored the resolution that honors the Kurdistan-US partnership,” she wrote in a tweet, promoting a petition asking the US Congress to co-sponsor the resolution.
“It recognizes the heroes of Operation Provide Comfort and the courage of the Kurdish people who rose up in 1991.”
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US senators Chris Van Hollen (D, Maryland) and Marco Rubio (R, Florida) introduced a bipartisan US Senate resolution commemorating the 30th anniversary of Operation Provide Comfort, the US-led humanitarian operation that followed the ceasefire of the 1991 Gulf War.
The resolution hailed the “important partnership between the US and Iraqi Kurdistan.”
“Last year, members of both parties of the US Congress introduced a resolution marking the 30th anniversary of Operation Provide Comfort,” the KRG’s representative in the US, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, told Kurdistan 24.
“This operation saved countless lives in the Kurdistan Region. It's important that you contact your member of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor this resolution.”
Read More: Masoud Barzani to speak about Operation Provide Comfort’s 30th anniversary in KRG-sponsored webinar
“We need to make sure that the resolution is addressed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee and by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and then hopefully voted on by Congress.”
“Please contact your member of Congress, ask them to support this in the Senate.”
“If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, if you follow the KRG Representation in the United States on Twitter or Facebook, you will be able to find the link,” she added.
Read More: Cosponsor H. Con. Res. 32: Commemorating the 30th anniversary of Operation Provide Comfort
Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman told Kurdistan 24 that she thinks it is very important for Kurdish Americans and friends of the Kurds to urge US congressmen to support this resolution.
“The resolution commemorates a turning point in Kurdistan Region's history. Throughout the ‘80s there was genocide, massacres, disappearances, but the world turned a blind eye and ignored what was happening to the people of Kurdistan.”
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“In 1991, when Saddam tried to crush the Kurdish uprising against him, he attacked us again. Nearly 2 million people fled for their lives. It was the United States, Britain, and France who launched Operation Provide Comfort and saved countless people.”
“Operation Provide Comfort was a critical humanitarian mission, but it also laid the foundation for our relationship with the United States. The partnership stood shoulder to shoulder when we brought down the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein in 2003. We (Kurds and the United States) stood together side by side and fought against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.”
“That partnership was forged 30 years ago, back in 1991, and that's why it's important to commemorate it.”
“The partnership stands strong today as well. The White House and the DoD (Department of Defense) have described this as a strategic partnership. This resolution both commemorates the 30th anniversary of the operation, and celebrates the strong partnership today,” she concluded.
“I ask you to contact your member of Congress and urge them to support this resolution. If you need more information, please feel free to contact our mission and you can find us on the internet or social media.”