II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3177 

To develop a policy to address the critical needs of Iraqi refugees. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2008 

Mr. REID (for Mr. KENNEDY) (for himself, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. 

SMITH, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To develop a policy to address the critical needs of Iraqi 

refugees. 

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

3 SECTION 1. WHITE HOUSE COORDINATOR FOR IRAQI REFU4 GEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PER5 SONS. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established, in the 

7 Executive Office of the President, the position of White 

8 House Coordinator for Iraqi Refugees and Internally Dis9 placed Persons (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Coordi10 nator’’), who shall be appointed by the President. 


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1 (b) RANK; SUPERVISION.—The Coordinator shall— 

2 (1) have the rank and status of Ambassador-at3 Large; and 

4 (2) report directly to the President. 

5 (c) DUTIES.—The Coordinator shall— 

6 (1) develop and implement United States’ poli7 cies and strategies to— 

8 (A) address the protection, resettlement, 

9 and assistance needs of Iraqi refugees and dis10 placed persons; and 

11 (B) foster long-term solutions for improv12 ing the lives of Iraqi citizens and nationals who 

13 have been displaced; 

14 (2) coordinate all Federal Government func15 tions to ensure that a cohesive, comprehensive policy 

16 is implemented to address the resettlement and hu17 manitarian needs of Iraqi refugees and internally 

18 displaced persons; 

19 (3) monitor the development and implementa20 tion of assistance strategies to countries in the Mid21 dle East hosting Iraqi refugees; 

22 (4) ensure that the President’s budget requests 

23 to Congress are sufficient to meet the needs of 

24 Iraqis and displaced persons and seek to fund at 

25 least 50 percent of all United Nations and other 


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1 international organizations’ appeals for Iraqi refu2 gees and internally displaced persons; 

3 (5) serve as principal liaison with— 

4 (A) the Government of Iraq and the inter5 national community to solicit and direct bilat6 eral and multilateral contributions to address 

7 the humanitarian needs of Iraqis in Syria, Jor8 dan, and other countries in the Middle East 

9 and internally displaced persons in Iraq; 

10 (B) the nongovernmental humanitarian 

11 community; and 

12 (C) organizations that are assisting Iraqi 

13 refugees and internally displaced persons; and 

14 (6) ensure that the United States Government 

15 will encourage refugee returns only when conditions 

16 permit safe, sustainable returns on a voluntary 

17 basis. 

18 (d) REPORT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act and every 

21 180 days thereafter, the Coordinator shall submit a 

22 report on the implementation of the strategy devel23 oped under subsection (b)(1) to— 

24 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

25 the Senate; 


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1 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

2 the House of Representatives; 

3 (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

4 Senate; and 

5 (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

7 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

8 this subsection shall— 

9 (A) include specific financial commitments 

10 made by countries in the region, Arab League 

11 members, and other major donors in the inter12 national community for Iraqi refugees and in13 ternally displaced persons; and 

14 (B) address challenges to securing addi15 tional commitments. 

Æ 


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