[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 72 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 72

   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that absent 
   congressional approval the Agreement Between the United States of 
  America and the Republic of Iraq on the Withdrawal of United States 
Forces from Iraq and the Organization of Their Activities During Their 
 Temporary Presence in Iraq is merely advisory and not legally binding 
             on the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 15, 2009

 Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Filner, 
  Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Woolsey, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, and Mr. Stark) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that absent 
   congressional approval the Agreement Between the United States of 
  America and the Republic of Iraq on the Withdrawal of United States 
Forces from Iraq and the Organization of Their Activities During Their 
 Temporary Presence in Iraq is merely advisory and not legally binding 
             on the United States, and for other purposes.

Whereas the Framers of the Constitution of the United States intended that all 
        significant foreign commitments by the United States Government be made 
        by treaty or statute;
Whereas the Constitution of the United States gives Congress the power to 
        declare war, to raise and support armies, to provide and maintain a 
        navy, to make rules governing such forces, to provide for organizing and 
        calling forth the militia, to make rules concerning captures on land and 
        water, and to regulate commerce with foreign nations;
Whereas the Constitution of the United States also gives Congress the power to 
        make all laws necessary for carrying out the powers vested in the 
        Government, and the power to raise and spend money;
Whereas in addition, the Senate has the responsibility of confirming 
        appointments to diplomatic posts and by two-thirds vote must give its 
        advice and consent to treaties before such treaties become effective;
Whereas Congress, established in Article I of the Constitution of the United 
        States, is a co-equal branch of the Government, and each Member of 
        Congress, regardless of political party, must resist encroachment by the 
        executive branch on the constitutional prerogatives of Congress;
Whereas on November 26, 2007, and without congressional consultation or input, 
        United States President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri 
        al-Maliki signed the United States-Iraq Declaration of Principles for 
        Friendship and Cooperation, a shared statement of intent that 
        established common principles to frame the future relationship between 
        the United States and Iraq;
Whereas President Bush publicly stated that the relationship envisioned in the 
        United States-Iraq Declaration of Principles for Friendship and 
        Cooperation includes cooperation between the United States and Iraq in 
        the political, diplomatic, economic, and security arenas;
Whereas President Bush declared his intent, during 2008, to negotiate and 
        conclude before he leaves office detailed arrangements that will codify 
        the bilateral relationship between the United States and Iraq following 
        the expiration of the mandate of the Multi-National Force--Iraq under 
        chapter VII of the United Nations Charter and the concomitant resumption 
        of Iraq's normal status as a state with full legal and functional 
        sovereignty and authorities and the restoration of Iraq's legal 
        international status;
Whereas on November 17, 2008, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari and United 
        States Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker signed the Agreement Between the 
        United States of America and the Republic of Iraq on the Withdrawal of 
        United States Forces from Iraq and the Organization of Their Activities 
        During Their Temporary Presence in Iraq (hereinafter referred to as the 
        ``Agreement'');
Whereas the procedure followed by the Government of Iraq required the Agreement 
        to be submitted to and approved by Parliament, the national legislature 
        of the Republic of Iraq, which approved the Agreement in December 2008; 
        in contrast the Agreement has not been submitted by the President to the 
        United States Congress for approval as contemplated by the Constitution;
Whereas the Agreement contemplates a timetable that could leave United States 
        troops in Iraq until December 31, 2011, which would cost American 
        taxpayers more than $360 billion based on current spending levels, money 
        that can be drawn from the United States Treasury only by a 
        congressionally authorized appropriation of funds;
Whereas the Agreement undermines the constitutional powers of the next president 
        by subjecting United States military operations to the approval of the 
        Iraqi Government, notwithstanding that throughout history, United States 
        troops have been subjected to foreign control in peacekeeping operations 
        only where authorized under treaties ratified by the Senate;
Whereas the Agreement subjects thousands of private military contractors to 
        Iraqi courts in the event that they are charged with crimes but does not 
        specify the law to be applied or the procedural safeguards that must be 
        observed by Iraqi courts to ensure due process and equal justice; and
Whereas President Bush's claim that he alone is empowered by the Constitution to 
        negotiate and conclude detailed arrangements that will institutionalize 
        the bilateral relationship between the United States and Iraq without 
        any involvement of the Congress reflects a profound misreading of the 
        Constitution: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the Agreement Between the United States of America and 
        the Republic of Iraq on the Withdrawal of United States Forces 
        from Iraq and the Organization of Their Activities During Their 
        Temporary Presence in Iraq (hereinafter referred to as the 
        ``Agreement'') is not a genuine Status of Forces Agreement and 
        lacks the force of law because it was formalized in a manner 
        inconsistent with the requirements of the United States 
        Constitution;
            (2) Congress should consider the Agreement to be advisory 
        in nature and should not be legally bound nor obligated to 
        appropriate any of the funds necessary to carry out the terms 
        of the Agreement;
            (3) the House of Representatives should conduct hearings 
        during the 111th Congress to determine, inter alia, whether to 
        authorize and fund the Agreement or to reject the Agreement to 
        the extent that it--
                    (A) contemplates the United States maintaining 
                United States troops in Iraq until December 31, 2011, 
                at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars to the 
                United States Treasury;
                    (B) subjects United States military operations to 
                ``the approval of the Iraqi government'', by giving 
                operational control to ``joint mobile operations 
                command centers'' controlled by a joint American-Iraqi 
                committee; and
                    (C) subjects thousands of private military 
                contractors to Iraqi courts in the event that they are 
                charged with serious crimes but does not specify what 
                crimes are to be deemed ``serious'' and does not 
                address the law to be applied or the procedural 
                safeguards that must be observed by Iraqi courts to 
                ensure due process and equal justice; and
            (4) the House of Representatives should conduct hearings 
        during the 111th Congress to determine the impact, if any, of 
        the Agreement on the status of the nearly 50,000 Iraqi 
        nationals held in preventive detention by the Iraqi Government 
        and United States forces as well as any such foreign nationals 
        in Iraq who have been designated as ``protected persons'' under 
        the Fourth Geneva Convention.
                                 <all>