[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 174 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 174

Calling on the President to request former President Jimmy Carter, and 
 members of the Carter Center, to assist the Office of Reconstruction 
         and Humanitarian Assistance for Post-War Iraq (ORHA).


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 9, 2003

Mr. Hastings of Florida submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
     which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Calling on the President to request former President Jimmy Carter, and 
 members of the Carter Center, to assist the Office of Reconstruction 
         and Humanitarian Assistance for Post-War Iraq (ORHA).

Whereas through the conduct of Operation Iraqi Freedom the United States Armed 
        Forces have successfully toppled the Iraqi regime headed for more than 
        two decades by Saddam Hussein;
Whereas the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Post-War 
        Iraq (ORHA) has been established to provide humanitarian assistance, 
        reconstruction assistance, and oversee the establishment of an interim 
        government in Iraq;
Whereas the Director of ORHA, retired United States Army General Jay Garner, 
        successfully led Operation Provide Comfort in 1991, the relief mission 
        to feed and house hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees displaced 
        after the Persian Gulf War;
Whereas almost every government ministry in Baghdad, with the exception of the 
        Oil Ministry, was bombed during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and then looted 
        and burned by Iraqis;
Whereas electricity has not been fully restored in Baghdad since 1991, and water 
        filtration plants are not up to modern standards;
Whereas an assessment by the International Committee of the Red Cross noted that 
        the hospitals in Iraq are ``third world'' status;
Whereas in addition to the humanitarian and infrastructure challenges, ORHA must 
        forge a peaceful, cooperative structure among Iraq's political, 
        religious, and ethnic factions to facilitate the establishment of an 
        interim government;
Whereas the establishment by the United States of functioning democracies in 
        Germany and Japan after World War II demonstrated that the provision of 
        humanitarian assistance, reconstruction assistance, and the 
        establishment of a cooperative, decentralized, and representative 
        government must be undertaken simultaneously;
Whereas cooperation by local leaders in Iraq with occupying United States forces 
        will be crucial to the success of achieving the United States objectives 
        in Iraq;
Whereas the Iraqi people are not experienced in the principles inherent in self-
        government, however the Director of ORHA is not experienced in 
        negotiating with disparate religions and ethnic factions;
Whereas long-term peace in Iraq will require assistance from countries and 
        organizations experienced in all aspects of nation-building;
Whereas established in 1982 by former President Jimmy Carter, the Carter Center 
        in the State of Georgia, is dedicated to promoting human rights, 
        resolving conflicts, and enhancing freedom and democracy throughout the 
        world;
Whereas in 1989 former President Carter and members of the Carter Center 
        provided a forum for negotiations between the Government of Ethiopia and 
        the Eritrean People's Liberation Front;
Whereas in 1994 former President Carter, members of the Carter Center, and then 
        retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, negotiated 
        the terms for the peaceful removal from power of Haiti's de facto 
        leaders, averting a multinational invasion of that country;
Whereas in 1994 former President Carter and members of the Carter Center 
        facilitated talks between Bosnia Muslims and Serbs in the former 
        Yugoslavia;
Whereas from 1989 to 2000 former President Carter and members of the Carter 
        Center monitored elections in Panama, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, 
        Haiti, Zambia, Guyana, Paraguay, Jamaica, East Timor, Mozambique, and 
        Mexico;
Whereas in 1998 former President Carter received the first United Nations Human 
        Rights Prize; and
Whereas in 2002 former President Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for ``his 
        decades of untiring efforts to find peaceful solutions to international 
        conflicts'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) calls on the President to request former President 
        Jimmy Carter, and members of the Carter Center, to assist the 
        Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Post-
        War Iraq (ORHA) to oversee the establishment of an interim 
        government in Iraq;
            (2) calls on former President Carter to forge a peaceful, 
        cooperative, structure among Iraq's political, religious, and 
        ethnic factions to facilitate the establishment of an interim 
        government in that country; and
            (3) calls on the Director of ORHA, retired United States 
        Army General Jay Garner, to utilize the expertise and 
        experience of former President Carter and the members of the 
        Carter Center in the establishment of an interim government in 
        Iraq.
                                 <all>