I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5499 

To provide for a timetable for the redeployment of the United States Armed 

Forces from Iraq and to seek political and diplomatic solutions for 

the security and stability of the Republic of Iraq. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2008 

Ms. TSONGAS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed 

Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for a timetable for the redeployment of the United 

States Armed Forces from Iraq and to seek political 

and diplomatic solutions for the security and stability 

of the Republic of Iraq. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be referred to as the ‘‘Iraq Redeploy5 ment Timetable and Political Reconciliation Act of 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING SERVICE OF 

2 UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES IN IRAQ AND 

3 POLITICAL RECONCILIATION IN IRAQ. 

4 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

5 (1) the men and women of the United States 

6 Armed Forces have served honorably and expertly in 

7 Operation Iraqi Freedom; 

8 (2) political reconciliation in the Republic of 

9 Iraq is the key component in providing stability in 

10 Iraq; 

11 (3) political reconciliation cannot occur in the 

12 Republic of Iraq without robust diplomatic efforts by 

13 the United States and the international community; 

14 (4) the overwhelming presence of the United 

15 States Armed Forces in Iraq has neither encouraged 

16 nor precipitated the political, religious, ethnic, and 

17 tribal leaders in Iraq to achieve political and diplo18 matic solutions in providing security and stability for 

19 their own nation; 

20 (5) a defined schedule for redeployment of the 

21 United States Armed Forces from Iraq, which is the 

22 only real remaining political leverage available to the 

23 United States, is the quickest, safest, and most re24 sponsible way to bring the Armed Forces home; 

25 (6) a defined schedule for redeployment re26 quires the people and government of Iraq to take reVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:40 Feb 27, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5499.IH H5499

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1 sponsibility for their future and will help engage the 

2 international community to assist the people and 

3 government of Iraq in making political progress; and 

4 (7) continuous and extended deployments of the 

5 United States Armed Forces have compromised 

6 United States military readiness around the globe 

7 and reduced the ability of the United States to re8 spond to other international commitments, notably 

9 Afghanistan. 

10 SEC. 3. TIMETABLE FOR REDEPLOYMENT OF UNITED 

11 STATES ARMED FORCES FROM IRAQ. 

12 (a) COMMENCEMENT OF REDEPLOYMENT.—Not 

13 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of the 

14 Act, the Secretary of Defense shall commence the rede15 ployment of the units and members of the United States 

16 Armed Forces deployed in Iraq. 

17 (b) PURPOSE OF REDEPLOYMENT.—The redeploy18 ment required by this section shall be carried out for pur19 poses of— 

20 (1) ensuring that the national security interests 

21 of the United States are protected; and 

22 (2) improving the military readiness of the 

23 United States Armed Forces. 

24 (c) COMPLETION OF REDEPLOYMENT.—The Sec25 retary of Defense shall complete the redeployment of the 


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1 United States Armed Forces from Iraq by the end of the 

2 180-day period beginning on the date on which the Sec3 retary of Defense commences the redeployment required 

4 by subsection (a). 

5 (d) REDEPLOYMENT REPORT.—Not later than 60 

6 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense 

8 committees a report outlining the necessary elements of 

9 the required timetable for the redeployment of the United 

10 States Armed Forces from Iraq. To the maximum extent 

11 possible, the report shall be submitted in an unclassified 

12 format. The report shall include— 

13 (1) a timetable for completion of the redeploy14 ment within 180 days after commencement; 

15 (2) an estimate of the number of members of 

16 the United States Armed Forces needed to perform 

17 the activities described in subsection (f); 

18 (3) an estimate of the number of sea, air, and 

19 ground equipment required to perform the activities 

20 described in subsection (f); 

21 (4) a plan for ensuring the safe and orderly 

22 withdrawal of the United States Armed Forces from 

23 Iraq; 

24 (5) an estimate of the cost of providing security 

25 for United States citizens remaining in Iraq to conVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:40 Feb 27, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5499.IH H5499

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1 duct diplomatic, economic, and social rehabilitation, 

2 including Provincial Reconstruction Teams; and 

3 (6) the total estimated costs of redeployment. 

4 (e) CERTIFICATION OF REDEPLOYMENT.—Upon the 

5 completion of the redeployment, the Secretary of Defense 

6 shall submit a report to the congressional defense commit7 tees certifying that all United States Armed Forces have 

8 been redeployed from Iraq. 

9 (f) PROTECTION OF UNITED STATES EMBASSY IN

10 BAGHDAD, IRAQ.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

11 this Act, the Secretary of Defense may retain members 

12 of the United States Armed Forces in Iraq in such num13 bers as the Secretary considers required for protection of 

14 the United States Embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq. 

15 SEC. 4. RELATIONS WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ. 

16 (a) DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS.—Concurrently with the 

17 redeployment of United States Armed Forces pursuant to 

18 section 3, the Secretary of State shall continue to work 

19 with the elected Government of Iraq to provide for the 

20 security and stability of Iraq and its transition to demo21 cratic rule through diplomatic means. 

22 (b) CONTINUATION OF DIPLOMATIC, SOCIAL, AND

23 ECONOMIC REHABILITATION ACTIVITIES IN IRAQ.—Noth24 ing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit or otherwise 

25 restrict the use of funds available to any department or 


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1 agency of the United States, other than the Department 

2 of Defense, to carry out diplomatic, social, and economic 

3 rehabilitation activities in Iraq. 

4 (c) REPORT AND COMPONENTS.—Not later than 30 

5 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 

6 30 days thereafter, the President of the United States 

7 shall submit to the congressional defense committees, the 

8 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa9 tives, and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen10 ate a report describing the efforts by the United States 

11 to carry out diplomatic, social, and economic rehabilitation 

12 activities in Iraq. The report shall include, at minimum— 

13 (1) current efforts to effect political dialogue 

14 among the political, religious, ethnic, and tribal lead15 ers in Iraq; 

16 (2) current efforts of international organiza17 tions in assisting with political reconciliation in Iraq; 

18 and 

19 (3) initiatives, either planned or ongoing, for 

20 assistance by the United States to the Government 

21 of Iraq to assist in the areas of governance, rule of 

22 law, democracy, and human rights protections. 


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1 SEC. 5. MIDDLE EAST SECURITY AND ECONOMIC ORGANI2 ZATION. 

3 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

4 Congress that— 

5 (1) security and stability in Iraq and the broad6 er Middle East is vital to all nations of the world; 

7 (2) diplomatic involvement of the broader inter8 national community in the regional security and sta9 bility of Iraq and the Middle East region is essen10 tial; 

11 (3) involvement in the Middle East region re12 mains vital to the national security interests of the 

13 United States; 

14 (4) the Middle East region lacks a regional se15 curity and economic organization that would allow 

16 for increased dialogue among participating nations; 

17 (5) a regional security and economic organiza18 tion, modeled on the Organization for Security and 

19 Cooperation in Europe, should be created; and 

20 (6) a regional, multilateral security and eco21 nomic organization provides the structure necessary 

22 to cultivate regional security and to promote eco23 nomic development and cooperation in the Middle 

24 East region. 

25 (b) NEGOTIATIONS.—In parallel with the redeploy26 ment of United States Armed Forces from Iraq pursuant 


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1 to section 3, the Secretary of State shall begin immediate 

2 negotiations for the creation of a multi-lateral security and 

3 economic organization for the Middle East region, to be 

4 known as the ‘‘Middle East Security and Economic Orga5 nization’’. 

6 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Middle East Secu7 rity and Economic Organization is to cultivate regional se8 curity and to promote economic development and coopera9 tion in the Middle East region. 

10 (d) COMPOSITION.—At minimum, the Middle East 

11 Security and Economic Organization should be comprised 

12 of nations located in the Persian Gulf and broader Middle 

13 East region, as well as the broader international commu14 nity. It is the sense of Congress that the composition of 

15 the Middle East Security and Economic Organization in16 clude— 

17 (1) representative countries from the League of 

18 Arab States; 

19 (2) member states from the North Atlantic 

20 Treaty Organization; and 

21 (3) interested nations holding seats in the UN 

22 General Assembly. 

23 (e) REPORT.—Within 30 days after commencement 

24 of negotiations to establish the Middle East Security and 

25 Economic Organization, and every 30 days thereafter until 


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1 negotiations are complete, the Secretary of State shall 

2 submit to the congressional defense committees, the Com3 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, 

4 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

5 a report describing the progress of negotiations in forming 

6 the Middle East Security and Economic Organization. 

7 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) The term ‘‘United States Armed Forces’’ 

10 has the meaning given the term ‘‘armed forces’’ in 

11 section 101(a)(4) of title 10, United States Code. 

12 (2) The term ‘‘congressional defense commit13 tees’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Armed Services and 

15 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

16 of Representatives; and 

17 (B) the Committee on Armed Services and 

18 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

Æ 


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