[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 873 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 873

Establishing a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 27, 2009

Mr. Rohrabacher (for himself and Mr. Davis of Tennessee) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Establishing a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Whereas 15 countries including leading European nations have diplomatic and 
        consulate representation in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region 
        of Iraq;
Whereas the United States Department of State modified its Travel Warning for 
        Iraq this year to reflect the relative safety and security of the 
        Kurdistan Region of Iraq;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region 
        of Iraq is consistent with current United States policy to normalize 
        bilateral United States-Iraq relations at the diplomatic, commercial, 
        cultural, and educational levels as the United States Armed Forces 
        redeploys from Iraq;
Whereas greater United States Government civilian representation throughout 
        Iraq, including in the Kurdistan Region, will serve the United States 
        interest during this period of military transition across the country;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region 
        of Iraq will increase travel between the United States and the Kurdistan 
        Region of Iraq and thus strengthen people-to-people exchanges between 
        both sides;
Whereas presently, United States citizens either living in or visiting the 
        Kurdistan Region must travel to the United States Embassy in Baghdad, 
        200 miles away, to receive consular services;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region 
        will both be helpful in attracting greater United States business and 
        investment to the region and ensuring that the region continues to serve 
        as a ``gateway'' to United States business success in other parts of 
        Iraq, as a number of United States Government agencies have advocated;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region 
        will demonstrate a United States commitment to maintaining and building 
        upon the success and stability of this prosperous and democratic Iraqi 
        region;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region 
        of Iraq will allow more government and nongovernmental missions between 
        the United States and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, a mutual interest;
Whereas the Kurds of Iraq have been willing partners with the United States in 
        the democratic transition in Iraq since 2003 and the Kurdistan Region 
        has served as a model of Iraq's democratization since Operation Iraqi 
        Freedom;
Whereas the United States and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have been 
        full partners in the battle against terrorism and those who seek to 
        undermine continued progress in a pluralistic, democratic, and federal 
        Iraq;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region 
        of Iraq will play a helpful role in continuing to safeguard Iraq's 
        territorial integrity from external aggression and support United States 
        and Iraqi diplomatic initiatives that seek to prevent outside 
        interference in Iraq's affairs;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region 
        of Iraq will also foster continued dialogue at a strategic level between 
        the United States and the KRG; and
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region 
        of Iraq will positively contribute to continued diplomatic initiatives 
        between the KRG and Turkey: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives calls on the Department 
of State to establish a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region 
of Iraq.
                                 <all>