Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) welcomed the announcement by Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday that the administration will send U.S. assistance to genocide survivors in Iraq and Syria though the aid groups that help them directly.

“I applaud the administration for acting to ensure that those who need U.S. assistance the most actually receive it,” Smith said. “For too long, Christians and other victims of ISIS genocide in Iraq and Syria have been subsisting without vital U.S. aid.”

Vice President Pence, speaking at the annual In Defense of Christians Solidarity Dinner on Wednesday evening, announced that the administration would not only send U.S. assistance to persecuted religious minorities through the United Nations, but would consider other avenues like faith-based organizations and private aid groups that work on the ground with these communities.

Although billions of dollars in aid had been sent to the region by the previous administration, many Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities reported that they were not getting the aid through the UN. Smith, who visited the region in December 2016, has been pushing the Administration to usher in needed support and he has introduced legislation to help the victims who continue to suffer every day.

Smith hailed Pence’s announcement as a good first step by the administration in aiding the vulnerable communities still at risk from ISIS and other actors in the region. He added that Congress too has a role to play.

“Congress must now do our part to back up the Administration and ensure the policy is fully implemented and sustained,” Smith said.  “Sadly assistance will be needed for some time to come.”

Smith is the author of the House-passed bill, H.R. 390, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act to provide similar assistance and which would in fact codify the policy to ensure that faith-based organizations are eligible for U.S. assistance for victims of genocide.  The House passed Smith’s bill in June and it is awaiting action in the Senate.

“We are at a tipping point,” Smith said, warning that the U.S. must act quickly to aid these communities before they are forced to leave Iraq for good. Religious leaders in the area have warned that if the displaced communities do not receive substantially more aid from the international community, they could leave Iraq in the next several months.

Smith urged the Senate to take up the legislation and pass it so that it can be signed into law. “Don’t wait any longer,” he said. “Delay is denial.”