IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1427 

Congratulating General David Howell Petraeus on being appointed 

Commander of the United States Central Command, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2008 

Mr. MCCOTTER (for himself, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, 

Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. FORTUN ̃O, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. 

LAMBORN, and Mr. LINDER) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Congratulating General David Howell Petraeus on being appointed Commander of the United States Central Command, and for other purposes. 

Whereas, on November 7, 1952, David Howell Petraeus was 

born in Cornwall, New York; 

Whereas in 1974, General Petraeus graduated at the top of 

his class from the United States Military Academy at 

West Point where he received a commission in the United 

States Army infantry; 

Whereas following commissioning and successful completion 

of Ranger School, as a distinguished graduate, General 

Petraeus was assigned to the 509th Airborne Battalion 

Combat team; 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
2 

•HRES 1427 IH 

Whereas in 1983, General Petraeus earned the General 

George C. Marshall Award as the top graduate of the 

United States Army Command and General Staff College; 

Whereas in 1985, General Petraeus earned his master’s degree and in 1987 his doctorate degree from the Woodrow 

Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at 

Princeton University; 

Whereas from 2001 to 2002, General Petraeus effectively 

served a 10-month tour in Bosnia and Herzegovina as 

part of Operation Joint Forge where he was the Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations of the North Atlantic 

Treaty Organization (NATO) Stabilization Force and the 

Deputy Commander of the United States Joint Interagency Counter-Terrorism Task Force—Bosnia; 

Whereas in 2003, General Petraeus successfully commanded 

the 101st Airborne Division, during which he led the 

‘‘Screaming Eagles’’ in combat throughout the first year 

of Operation Iraqi Freedom; 

Whereas in June 2004, General Petraeus was appointed the 

first commander of the Multi-National Security Transition Command—Iraq which was responsible for training, 

equipping, and mentoring Iraq’s growing Army, Police, 

and other security forces; 

Whereas from 2005 until February 2007, General Petraeus 

served as Commanding General, United States Army 

Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 

where, under his intellectual and academic leadership, he 

rewrote the military’s counterinsurgency manual, which 

presents new and innovative concepts, tactics, techniques, 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
3 

•HRES 1427 IH 

and procedures for executing counterinsurgency doctrine 

for the post-9/11 world; 

Whereas in January 2007, as part of a revised Iraqi strategy, 

General Petraeus was appointed as Commanding General 

of Multi-National Force—Iraq; 

Whereas, on February 10, 2007, General Petraeus took over 

command of the Multi-National Force—Iraq and oversaw 

the predeployment planning, training, employment, and 

execution of strategic surge operations; 

Whereas as Commander of the Multi-National Force—Iraq, 

General Petraeus has worked closely with the Government of Iraq to carry out a successful strategy which focused on securing the population and relentlessly pursuing the enemy and taking back the streets for the Iraqi 

people thereby creating a prodemocratic grassroots movement, in what has become iconically known as an ‘‘awakening’’ among Iraqi citizens; 

Whereas the successful surge is responsible for attacks plummeting from a daily rate of 160 to 170 before the surge 

to about 25 to 30 most recently; 

Whereas as Commander of the Multi-National Force—Iraq, 

General Petraeus successfully continued to train, equip, 

and develop Iraq’s security forces to support local security forces and to integrate these forces into the Iraqi 

Army and Police; 

Whereas thanks to the success of our United States combat 

forces during the surge, 70 percent of Iraqi Army battalions are now taking lead in military operations; 

Whereas due to the success of the surge, United States 

Armed Forces are able to pull out and hand over security 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
4 

•HRES 1427 IH 

responsibility for cities in 13 of Iraq’s 18 provinces, including the Anbar province, to Iraqi security forces; 

Whereas in April 2008, General Petraeus was nominated to 

command the United States Central Command; and 

Whereas, on July 10, 2008, the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmed General Petraeus as Commander of the 

United States Central Command by a vote of 95 to 2: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) congratulates General David Howell 

3 Petraeus on his well-deserved appointment as Com4 mander of the United States Central Command; 

5 (2) appreciates the impact General Petraeus’s 

6 visionary counter-insurgency strategy and tactics, in7 cluding the prioritization of ‘‘localized reconstruc8 tion’’ efforts, had in providing security in Iraq, fa9 cilitating Iraqi construction, and advancing the 

10 cause of our Nation’s victory over the enemy in Iraq; 

11 (3) commends General Petraeus for his tireless, 

12 prescient, and invaluable leadership of the surge of 

13 United States Armed Forces in the war for freedom 

14 against terrorism and leaving the citizens of Iraq the 

15 opportunity to live in a sovereign, stable, democratic, 

16 and free Iraq that is opposed to terrorism; 

17 (4) commends and expresses gratitude to the 

18 members of the United States Armed Forces on 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
5 

•HRES 1427 IH 

1 their success and selfless service to defend our lib2 erty and extend liberty to the people of Iraq; and 

3 (5) remains committed to honor the sacrifices 

4 of our fallen and wounded soldiers by continuing to 

5 support the victory of our United States Armed 

6 Forces in Iraq and all theaters in our Nation’s un7 sought struggle against terrorism. 

Æ 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS