; Whereas the KRI has provided refuge and aid to nearly two million refugees and internally displaced persons during the course of the Iraqi and Syrian civil wars; Whereas the KRI has demonstrated commendable commitment and progress for religious and ethnic pluralism, including for their Assyrian/Chaldean Christian, Baha’i, Jewish, Kaka’i, Mandean, Shabak, Shia, Turkmen, Yazidi, and Zoroastrian minorities, in addition to demonstrated commitment and progress for gender equality; Whereas the Kurds are a historically proven ally against tyranny and terror, including against Saddam Hussein’s regime, and terror groups such as al Qaeda and Ansar al-Islam; Whereas Saddam Hussein, as dictator of Iraq, pursued a campaign of ethnic cleansing and displacement of the Kurds, resulting in as many as 182,000 civilian deaths, with the aim of territorial expansion at Kurdish expense; Whereas according to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2625, the right to self-determination of a people supersedes territorial integrity when a country has violated the economic, social, and cultural development of a people, and when that people have a valid territorial claim to the area; Whereas despite intractable disputes between the KRI and the Iraqi central government, the KRI has demonstrated commitment to non-violent pursuit of their statehood ambitions; and Whereas the Kurdistan Region Parliament of Iraq enacted a legislative mandate for Iraqi Kurdistan’s 25 September independence referendum on September 15, 2017, following formal calls from a majority of political parties in the Kurdistan Regional Government: Now, therefore, be it