[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 483 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 483

  Calling for immediate full consular services to be provided by the 
 United States Consulate in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region 
                                of Iraq.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 2, 2011

Mr. Rohrabacher submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                  to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Calling for immediate full consular services to be provided by the 
 United States Consulate in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region 
                                of Iraq.

Whereas the establishment of a fully operational 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 the United States Department of State opened a consulate in Erbil, the 
        capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, in July 2011 which does not 
        offer full consular services;
Whereas the withholding or lack of consular services in Erbil damages United 
        States relations with the people and regional government of the 
        Kurdistan Region of Iraq;
Whereas a fully operational 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 of Iraq must travel to the United States Embassy in 
        Baghdad, 200 miles away, to receive full consular services;
Whereas a fully functioning United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of 
        Iraq 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 a fully functional United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of 
        Iraq will demonstrate a United States commitment to maintaining and 
        building upon the success and stability of this prosperous and 
        democratic Iraqi region;
Whereas a fully functional 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 a fully operational 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; and
Whereas a fully functional 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: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives calls on the United 
States Department of State to provide immediate full consular services, 
including issuing visas, from the United States Consulate in Erbil, the 
capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
                                 <all>