Following calls for the US to finally declare the acts committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq as genocide, the United States Congress has unanimously made the declaration, putting pressure on the Obama administration to do the same.
After a 393-3 vote, Congress issued a resolution declaring the acts committed by ISIS against minorities in Iraq and Syria a genocide, reported RT.
The resolution comes days before the deadline set by the US Congress for the State Department to make its own determination.
In a Twitter post, House Speaker Paul Ryan aired the House's position on the atrocities being committed in the Middle East.
"What is happening in Iraq and Syria is a deliberate, systematic targeting of religious and ethnic minorities. Today, the House unanimously voted to call ISIS's atrocities what they are: a genocide. We also will continue to offer our prayers for the persecuted," he said.
Ryan, in an earlier statement condemned the killing of 16 people in a retirement home in Yemen, including four nuns. The attackers tied up the residents before executing them.
A report by Fox indicated that the US Senate is set to vote on the same issue.
However, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said that the President is still weighing the legalities involved in making its determination.
"The word genocide involves a very specific legal determination that has, at this point, not been reached," he explained.
Meanwhile, presidential nominees Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton have supported calls to declare the acts committed by ISIS a genocide.
