III 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. J. RES. 34 

Expressing United States policy on Iraq. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2006 

Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. REED) introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

Expressing United States policy on Iraq. 

Whereas there has been a strong consensus among the senior 

United States military commanders that a broad-based 

political settlement involving the three main Iraqi groups 

is essential for defeating the insurgency; 

Whereas the two parts of that political settlement are (1) 

agreement on a national unity government that serves the 

interests of all Iraqis, and (2) compromises to amend the 

Iraq Constitution to make it an inclusive document; 

Whereas such a two-part political settlement is also essential 

to prevent all-out civil war and is a critical element of our 

exit strategy for United States military forces in Iraq; 

Whereas the Iraqi Council of Representatives’ approval on 

April 22, 2006, of the Presidency Council consisting of 


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Jalal Talabani as President and two Vice Presidents, and 

the election of a Speaker and two Deputy Speakers is a 

significant step, as is the decision by the Iraqi political 

leadership to select Jawad al-Maliki as the Prime Minister designate; 

Whereas the Council of Representatives still needs to consider 

the nomination of Jawad al-Maliki and his still-to-be-chosen Cabinet, including an Interior Minister and a Defense Minister, and still needs to form a committee to 

recommend changes to the Iraq Constitution; 

Whereas under the Iraq Constitution, Prime Minister designate Jawad al-Maliki has 30 days from April 22, 2006, 

to choose and present a Cabinet to the Council of Representatives for its approval; 

Whereas under the Iraq Constitution, the Council of Representatives, at the start of its functioning, is required to 

appoint a committee from its members which will have 

four months to present recommendations to the Council 

for necessary amendments to the Iraq Constitution; 

Whereas while the three main Iraqi groups have differing 

views about the duration of the presence in Iraq of the 

United States-led Coalition forces, none of them favor the 

immediate withdrawal of United States military forces 

from Iraq; 

Whereas section 1227 of the National Defense Authorization 

Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (Public Law 109–163; 119 

Stat. 3465; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note) provides in part that 

‘‘[t]he Administration should tell the leaders of all groups 

and political parties in Iraq that they need to make the 

compromises necessary to achieve the broad-based and 

sustainable political settlement that is essential for deVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:04 Apr 26, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SJ34.IS SJ34

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feating the insurgency in Iraq, within the timetable they 

set for themselves’’; 

Whereas the United States Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay 

Khalilzad, has done an exceptional job in working with 

Iraqi political, religious, and tribal leaders in an effort to 

achieve consensus on the prompt formation of a national 

unity government; and 

Whereas the American public has become increasingly and 

understandably impatient with the failure of the Iraqis to 

form a national unity government: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 That it is the sense of Congress that the Iraqi political, 

4 religious, and tribal leaders should be told by the Adminis5 tration that— 

6 (1) the continued presence of United States 

7 military forces in Iraq is not unconditional; 

8 (2) whether the Iraqis avoid all-out civil war 

9 and have a future as a nation is in their hands; 

10 (3) the Iraqis need to seize that opportunity 

11 and only they can be responsible for their own fu12 ture; and 

13 (4) completing the formation of a government 

14 of national unity and subsequent agreement to modi15 fications to the Iraq Constitution to make it more 

16 inclusive, within the deadlines the Iraqis have set for 

17 themselves in the Iraq Constitution, is— 


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1 (A) essential to defeating the insurgency 

2 and avoiding all-out civil war; and 

3 (B) a condition of the continued presence 

4 of United States military forces in Iraq. 

Æ 


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