U.S. Congressman Darin LaHood, representative for Illinois’ 16th Congressional District which is home to many Assyrian-Americans, urged President Donald J. Trump to take immediate action to support Iraq’s Assyrians, emphasizing the issue as both a moral obligation and a strategic interest for the United States, according to Nineveh News.
LaHood called on the administration to pressure both Baghdad and Erbil to fully implement Article 125 of Iraq’s Constitution, which guarantees political, cultural, and administrative rights to the indigenous Assyrian nation but has largely gone unfulfilled.
He stressed that enforcing existing constitutional protections, restoring election quotas, enabling diaspora voting, and supporting grassroots Assyrian organizations would help stem emigration, strengthen stability, and preserve Assyrian presence in the Nineveh Plains and beyond.
LaHood argued that, given the United States’ role in shaping Iraq’s post-2003 framework, Washington has both the leverage and responsibility to ensure these rights are honored, framing this as essential to U.S. diplomatic and security objectives in the region.
According to the report in Nineveh News, Assyrian organizations across the United States have intensified their coordination, committing to a more deliberate and unified strategy to advance shared interests.
