WASHINGTON – Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) and Co-Chairman Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), will hold a briefing entitled, “The Forgotten: Iraqi Allies Failed by the U.S.,” on Wednesday, June 11 at 10:00 a.m. in room B-318 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
The briefing will focus on The List: Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies, a non-profit organization that helps resettle Iraqis who are at particular risk for having worked for the United States government and American organizations. It will also examine the need for the United States to significantly increase its efforts to resettle these vulnerable Iraqi allies.
The panel will include Mr. Kirk Johnson, founder and executive director of The List Project; Mr. Christopher Nugent of Holland & Knight, LLP; and an Iraqi whom Mr. Nugent and Mr. Johnson helped to resettle in the United States.
Mr. Johnson worked in Baghdad and Fallujah in 2005 as the coordinator of reconstruction for USAID. During his time in Iraq, he tried to help one of his friends who had been identified as working for Americans and had gotten death threats. The U.S. government did not do anything to help the Iraqi so Mr. Johnson stepped in and tried to find a way to save his friend. In the process more and more Iraqis found out about Mr. Johnson’s efforts and sought his assistance. Their appeals for help produced The List Project.
Mr. Nugent is an attorney currently providing pro bono legal services for those Iraqis on The List.
PANELISTS
Mr. Kirk Johnson, Founder and Executive Director of The List: Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies
Mr. Christopher Nugent, Attorney, Holland & Knight, LLP
An Iraqi, resettled in the U.S. by The List: Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies
WHO: U.S. Helsinki Commission (Co-Chairmen Hastings and Cardin)
WHAT: Briefing – The Forgotten: Iraqi Allies Failed by the U.S.
WHEN: Wednesday, June 11 at 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: B-318 Rayburn House Office Building
