The House Armed Services Defense Policy Panel heard testimony on the conduct of Operation Provide Comfort, the U.S. and coalition allies' program for providing humanitarian aid for Kurdish refugees. Shortly after the Persian Gulf war ended, the Kurds living in Iraq, who opposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, fled to the hills of Iraq in fear of persecution by Iraqi soldiers. Operation Provide Comfort provided food, medical, and basic living aid to the Kurds, who were set up in large camps below the mountains bordering Iraq and Turkey. The committee also discussed proposals for humanitarian aid to the people of the Soviet Union, who are faced with famine during the coming winter due to the collapse of their economy. The previous week, House Armed Services committee chairman Rep. Les Aspin proposed providing $1 billion in humanitarian aid to the Soviet Union, to be funded through the Department of Defense budget.