Genocide in the Middle East
Floor Speech
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Mr. VARGAS. Thank you, very much, Congressman Fortenberry, and also Anna Eshoo for your courage to come forward and for your words today and for your powerful words that you gave a moment ago to call genocide what it is: genocide, what we are seeing with Christians in particular, Yazidis, and others. So, again, thank you very much for allowing me to speak today.
I would also like to congratulate both of you on the passage of H. Con. Res. 75, which expresses the sense of Congress that the atrocities perpetrated by ISIS against religious and ethnic minorities are indeed, as I said, genocide, crimes against humanity. I sincerely hope that the Obama administration will see the bipartisan show of support for this timely resolution as an impetus to clearly and forthrightly declare these acts genocide, because that is what they are. So I am hoping that they take action.
Around the world, political and religious leaders have spoken out to condemn ISIS' acts of raping, kidnapping, torturing, and killing of Christians, Yazidis, Shias, Turkmens, and other religious minorities.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the European Parliament, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and His Holiness, Pope Francis have called these actions by their proper name: genocide--genocide.
I would like to echo the words of Pope Francis, who eloquently stated: ``Our brothers are being persecuted, chased away, they are forced to leave their homes without being able to take anything with them. I assure these families that I am close to them and in constant prayer. I know how much you are suffering; I know that you are being stripped of everything.''
It has almost been 2 years since the fall of Mosul, when ISIS warned religious minorities living under its jurisdiction to either convert to Islam, pay a cumbersome religious tax, or be executed. I won't go through all the atrocious acts that they have committed. I think that they were spoken of already here in a very dramatic way. Again, they did what they said they were going to do; and that is ISIS said that, if you didn't leave, if you didn't convert, you would be executed. That is, in fact, what they have done in the most horrific way.
We have to act. It is time for us to act. I believe that this mass exodus represents the largest forced displacement in the Middle East since the Armenian genocide in Turkey 100 years ago.
A genocide, known as the crime of crimes, has both legal and moral implications under both Federal and international law. This means that if a genocide is declared, it will demand American leadership and resources to prevent and punish the ongoing assault of Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities that are targeted for extinction.
While I applaud the various actions and commitments the Obama administration has made to alleviate the suffering of thousands of victims of ISIS, I strongly and firmly believe we can, we should, and we must do more.
History is full of examples of leaders who opposed these mass atrocities in abstraction but similarly opposed any action in the moment. I call on President Obama and Secretary Kerry to take the first step in firmly calling this egregious situation a genocide. It is past time to speak the truth to power and not to mince any words, and we shouldn't mince any words.
Lastly, I would say this. This has been a bipartisan effort. I did have the opportunity to travel to Erbil with Congress Members Darrell Issa and John Mica. We were able to talk to victims there of this horrific genocide, and we were able to talk to the Kurds who were, in fact, helping dramatically, many of them losing their own lives because they wanted to protect Christians and Yazidis.
We have to do more. Unfortunately, we probably won't get much information. Maybe if I went over and punched my good friend Jeff--out of love, of course, brother--maybe we could get some attention to this matter. But we have to shout out, and we have to get the attention of the administration. We have to do something. We have to do something because this is genocide, and we just can't sit idly by.
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