[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2956 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2956

 To require the Secretary of Defense to commence the reduction of the 
 number of United States Armed Forces in Iraq to a limited presence by 
                 April 1, 2008, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 10, 2007

 Mr. Skelton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
  Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of Defense to commence the reduction of the 
 number of United States Armed Forces in Iraq to a limited presence by 
                 April 1, 2008, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Responsible Redeployment from Iraq 
Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against 
        Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243), enacted into law 
        on October 16, 2002, authorized the President to use the Armed 
        Forces as the President determined necessary and appropriate in 
        order to defend the national security of the United States 
        against the continuing threat posed by the Government of Iraq 
        at that time;
            (2) the Government of Iraq which was in power at the time 
        the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq 
        Resolution of 2002 was enacted into law has been removed from 
        power and its leader indicted, tried, convicted, and executed 
        by the new freely-elected democratic Government of Iraq;
            (3) the current Government of Iraq does not pose a threat 
        to the United States or its interests; and
            (4) after more than four years of valiant efforts by 
        members of the Armed Forces and United States civilians, the 
        Government of Iraq must now be responsible for Iraq's future 
        course.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF ARMED FORCES IN IRAQ AND 
              TRANSITION TO A LIMITED PRESENCE OF THE ARMED FORCES IN 
              IRAQ.

    (a) Requirement.--The Secretary of Defense shall commence the 
reduction of the number of Armed Forces in Iraq beginning not later 
than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and shall 
complete the reduction and transition to a limited presence of the 
Armed Forces in Iraq by not later than April 1, 2008.
    (b) Reduction and Transition To Be Carried Out in a Safe and 
Orderly Manner.--The reduction of the number of Armed Forces in Iraq 
and transition to a limited presence of the Armed Forces in Iraq 
required by subsection (a) shall be implemented in a safe and orderly 
manner, with maximum attention paid to protection of the Armed Forces 
that are being redeployed from Iraq.
    (c) Reduction and Transition to Further Comprehensive Strategy.--
The reduction of the number of Armed Forces in Iraq and transition to a 
limited presence of the Armed Forces in Iraq required by subsection (a) 
shall further be implemented as part of the comprehensive United States 
strategy for Iraq required by section 4 of this Act.

SEC. 4. COMPREHENSIVE UNITED STATES STRATEGY FOR IRAQ.

    (a) Strategy Required.--Not later than January 1, 2008, the 
President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
comprehensive United States strategy for Iraq.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The strategy required by subsection 
(a) shall include the following:
            (1) A discussion of United States national security 
        interests in Iraq and the broader Middle East region and the 
        diplomatic, political, economic, and military components of a 
        comprehensive strategy to maintain and advance such interests 
        as the Armed Forces are redeployed from Iraq pursuant to 
        section 3 of this Act.
            (2) A justification of the minimum force levels required to 
        protect United States national security interests in Iraq after 
        April 1, 2008, including a description of the specific missions 
        of the Armed Forces to be undertaken. The justification shall 
        include--
                    (A) the projected number of Armed Forces necessary 
                to carry out the missions;
                    (B) the projected annual cost of the missions; and
                    (C) the expected duration of the missions.
            (3) As part of the justification required by paragraph (2), 
        the President shall, at a minimum, address whether it is 
        necessary for the Armed Forces to carry out the following 
        missions:
                    (A) Protecting United States diplomatic facilities 
                and United States citizens, including members of the 
                Armed Forces who are engaged in carrying out other 
                missions.
                    (B) Serving in roles consistent with customary 
                diplomatic positions.
                    (C) Engaging in actions to disrupt and eliminate 
                al-Qaeda and its affiliated organizations in Iraq.
                    (D) Training and equipping members of the Iraqi 
                Security Forces.
            (4) Specific plans for diplomatic initiatives to engage 
        United States allies and others in the region to bring 
        stability to Iraq.
    (c) Update of Strategy.--Not later than July 1, 2008, and every 90 
days thereafter, the President shall transmit to the appropriate 
congressional committees an update of the strategy required by 
subsection (a), including a description of the number of Armed Forces 
deployed to Iraq and the missions for which such Armed Forces are so 
deployed.
    (d) Form.--The strategy required by subsection (a) and each update 
of the strategy required by subsection (c) shall be transmitted in 
unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex, if necessary.
    (e) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 
        Appropriations, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
        House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 
        Appropriations, and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
        Senate.

SEC. 5. ARMED FORCES DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``Armed Forces'' has the meaning given the 
term in section 101 of title 10, United States Code.
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