President Donald J. Trump is joined by legislators and Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil-Kurdistan, Iraq, left, as he signs H.R. 390-Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018 Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018 in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
Washington, DC – -(AmmoLand.com)- Today, President Donald J. Trump participated in a signing ceremony for H.R. 390, the “Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018.”
This bipartisan legislation, which passed the House and Senate unanimously, directs humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery assistance toward ethnic and minority individuals in Iraq and Syria, including individuals at risk of persecution or war crimes. Additionally, the bill directs the State Department to encourage foreign governments to identify and prosecute individuals suspected of committing crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide, or war crimes, including members of foreign terrorist organizations operating in Iraq or Syria.
President Trump and his Administration remain committed to defeating ISIS and providing steadfast support for individuals targeted by their efforts.
The following individuals were in attendance:
The White House
- President Donald J. Trump
- Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States
- General John Kelly, White House Chief of Staff
- Director Mick Mulvaney, Office of Management and Budget
- Mercedes Schlapp, Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications
- James Carroll, Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
Trump Administration
- Administrator Mark Green, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
- Ambassador Callista Gingrich, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See
- Ambassador Sam Brownback, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
Members of Congress
- House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, CA
- Representative Anna Eshoo, CA
- Representative Mark Meadows, NC
- Representative Chris Smith, NJ
- Representative Steve Pearce, NM
- Representative Mike McCaul, TX
External Participants
- Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight, Knights of Columbus
- Archbishop Vicken Aykasian, Diocesan Legate in Washington, D.C., and Ecumenical Director of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
- Toufic Baaklini, President and Chairman of In Defense of Christians
- Tom Farr, President of the Religious Freedom Institute
- Nathaniel Hurd, Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. Helsinki Commission
- Murad Ismael, Executive Director, YAZDA
- Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
- Jonathan Reyes, Assistant General Secretary for Integral Human Development for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
- Nina Shea, Director, Center for Religious Freedom, Hudson Institute
- David Trimble, Senior Fellow, Religious Freedom Institute
- Fr. Charles Trullols, Director of the Catholic Information Center
- Andrew Walther, Vice President of Communications and Strategic Planning, Knights of Columbus
- Archbishop Bahar Matti Warda, Archbishop of Erbil, Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Erbil
- Frank Wolfe, Former U.S. Representative for VA’s 10thDistrict
- Nathaniel Hurd, Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. Helsinki Commission