SENATE RESOLUTION 361--ACKNOWLEDGING THE KURDS' VITAL ROLE IN STOPPING THE SPREAD OF ISIS MILITANTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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SENATE RESOLUTION 361--ACKNOWLEDGING THE KURDS' VITAL ROLE IN STOPPING

THE SPREAD OF ISIS MILITANTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Ms. ERNST (for herself and Mr. Rubio) submitted the following

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.:

\[S. Res. 361\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-resolution/361)

Whereas, in 2014, the United States led an international

coalition against Islamic State (ISIS) militants, conducting

airstrikes and later building military bases on Syrian

territory to assist ground operations against ISIS;

Whereas a coalition of Arab and Kurdish militias, known as

the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the help of United

States airstrikes and military advisors, drove ISIS away from

the Turkish border and out of northern Syria;

Whereas, since ISIS militants swept across Syria and

military action against ISIS began, the SDF has done the

critical work of clearing, holding, and governing the

territory previously conquered by the ISIS militants;

Whereas the SDF became one of the United States' strongest

partners in fighting ISIS as fearless and loyal fighters who

fought fiercely alongside United States special operations

forces and other coalition partners, losing over 10,000 SDF

troops throughout the course of military operations;

Whereas the SDF with coalition support captured

approximately 11,000 ISIS fighters and detained them in

Kurdish-held territory;

Whereas the Kurds have assisted humanitarian efforts in the

area, including caring for refugees and operating more than a

dozen camps for displaced families, helping tens of thousands

of people, many of them the wives and children of ISIS

fighters;

Whereas the Government of Turkey is hostile toward Kurdish

groups living along its border with Syria, claiming that the

Kurdish fighters in Syria are linked to the Kurdistan Workers

Party (PKK), which has been in conflict with Turkey for the

past several decades;

Whereas the SDF has not engaged in offensive operations

against Turkey and has served as a buffer preventing

extremist fighters from launching attacks into Turkey and

beyond;

Whereas the United States Armed Forces were ordered to

withdraw from sites along the Turkish border in northern

Syria, followed by a Turkish incursion that began on October

9, 2019;

Whereas the withdrawal of United States troops and the

ongoing conflict between Turkey and Kurdish-led fighters will

allow ISIS to profit from the instability in the region, as

SDF counter-ISIS missions have been suspended, and Kurdish-

held ISIS prisoners are in danger of being released from

confinement, as the SDF no longer have the capacity to guard

detention facilities while they are engaged in defensive

operations against Turkish forces; and

Whereas the withdrawal of United States forces from

northern Syria has severely damaged our relationship with our

Kurdish partners, effectively forcing them to ally with the

Assad regime, allowing the Governments of the Russian

Federation and Iran to expand their influence in the region,

while at the same time laying the groundwork for an ISIS

resurgence, damaging the United States's standing in the

international community and undermining both regional

security as well as our own national security: Now,

therefore, be it

Resolved, That is the sense of the Senate--

(1) to acknowledge the importance of the Kurds' vital role

in stopping the spread of ISIS militants in the region;

(2) that ISIS still poses a danger in the Middle East and

beyond and must not be allowed the opportunity to mount an

effective resurgence campaign;

(3) that the United States Government must continue its

leading role in promoting peace in the Middle East and

fighting against terrorist groups such as ISIS, wherever they

may be located; and

(4) that the Department of Defense, in conjunction with the

Department of State, should provide a briefing to Congress

within 30 days outlining plans and a strategy to continue the

global fight against ISIS, specifically addressing the

ongoing threat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq and how this

strategy will--

(A) prevent an ISIS resurgence in Syria;

(B) prevent ISIS efforts to capitalize from recent

developments;

(C) contain any ISIS expansion in Syria or in nations

bordering Syria;

(D) mitigate the threat of ISIS attacks on the United

States homeland or our partners and allies; and

(E) protect the gains made in the fight against ISIS since

2014.

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