[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 308 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 308

  To prohibit an escalation in United States military forces in Iraq 
                without prior authorization by Congress.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 16, 2007

   Mr. Dodd introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit an escalation in United States military forces in Iraq 
                without prior authorization by Congress.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On October 10, 2002, Congress adopted House Joint 
        Resolution 114 (107th Congress), the Authorization for Use of 
        Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, at the request 
        of the President.
            (2) On October 16, 2002, House Joint Resolution 114 (107th 
        Congress) was signed into law by President George W. Bush as 
        Public Law 107-243.
            (3) On March 19, 2003, United States forces entered Iraq to 
        carry out Operation Iraqi Freedom.
            (4) Congress honors the valor and sacrifice of United 
        States forces in Iraq and will always endeavor to ensure that 
        there are sufficient resources made available to support them 
        while they are there.
            (5) On March 22, 2003, President George W. Bush stated in a 
        radio address that the objective of Operation Iraqi Freedom was 
        ``to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam 
        Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi 
        people''.
            (6) On April 19, 2003, the government of Saddam Hussein in 
        Iraq was deposed.
            (7) On December 15, 2005, Iraq held democratic elections to 
        select a new government pursuant to a constitution endorsed in 
        a referendum conducted on October 15, 2005.
            (8) On February 22, 2006, insurgents attacked the Askariya 
        Shrine in Samarra, Iraq, an event that ignited a wave of 
        sectarian violence that has escalated over the ensuing months 
        and resulted in the deaths of more than 16,000 Iraqis during 
        2006.
            (9) On May 21, 2006, the government of Prime Minister Nouri 
        al-Maliki took office in Iraq.
            (10) Efforts by Iraqi and United States forces in the 
        summer and autumn of 2006, Operation Together Forward and 
        Operation Together Forward II, have failed to halt sectarian 
        conflict in the Baghdad area of Iraq.
            (11) On October 5, 2006, Senator John Warner, a coauthor of 
        House Joint Resolution 114 (107th Congress), stated that ``the 
        resolution (H.J. Res. 114) in my judgment was drawn up at a 
        time when none of us, from the President on down, could ever 
        envision the seriousness of this situation now, in terms of 
        sectarian violence, and--and I underline--just the possibility 
        of a civil war.''. He further stated that ``therefore it seems 
        to me Congress should focus on a dramatic change if our troops 
        are to be employed in that type of combat. We would have to go 
        back and focus on what we have done and determine whether or 
        not we have to do anything further to support the President''.
            (12) On December 6, 2006, the Iraq Study Group made 79 
        recommendations to address the ongoing conflict in Iraq. Among 
        the most important of the recommendations is a call for ``new 
        and enhanced diplomatic and political efforts in Iraq and the 
        region, and a change in the primary mission of U.S. forces in 
        Iraq that will enable the United States to begin to move its 
        combat forces out of Iraq responsibly''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ESCALATION OF UNITED STATES MILITARY FORCES IN 
              IRAQ WITHOUT PRIOR AUTHORIZATION BY CONGRESS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the levels of United 
States military forces in Iraq may not exceed the levels of such forces 
in Iraq as of January 16, 2007, without specific authority in statute 
enacted by Congress after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>