110 HR 7215 IH: Human Costs in Iraq Act of U.S. House of Representatives 2008-09-28 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7215 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 28, 2008 Ms. Waters introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, 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 amend the reporting requirements in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2007 relating to military and political stability in Iraq to require additional information on the number of combatants and non-combatants killed, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Human Costs in Iraq Act of 2008.

2.

Report on combatants and non-combatants killed in Iraq

(a)

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)Understanding the full spectrum of human costs of the war in Iraq gives the United States a better appreciation of its effects. (2)After years of war, there is no official mechanism that attempts to count victims of violence in Iraq. (3)Estimates for the numbers of Iraqis killed by violence since the 2003 invasion of Iraq range from 82,000 to 600,000. (4)General David Petraeus, in his testimony before Congress in September 2007, provided data on the number of Iraqis killed, but declined to explain how the data were gathered. (5)A 2008 report by the RAND National Defense Research Institute, An Argument for Document Civilian Casualties, stated, There is a clear need for better information gathering and analysis of violence against civilians in Iraq.. (b)

Report

(1)

In general

Section 9010(c) of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2007 (Public Law 109–289) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (3)With respect to the number of Iraqi casualties, the following: (A)The recorded total number of Iraqis killed by violence. (B)Best efforts to distinguish between combatants, non-combatants, and official Iraqi Security Force personnel killed. (C)Information detailing the incident involving each casualty under subparagraph (A). . (2)

Cooperation

In preparing that portion of the report required under paragraph (3) of section 9010 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2007 (as added by paragraph (1) of this subsection), the Secretary of Defense shall coordinate with the appropriate official of the Ministry of Defense of the Government of Iraq.