II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3541 

To address the impending humanitarian crisis and potential security breakdown as a result of the mass influx of Iraqi refugees into neighboring 

countries, and the growing internally displaced population in Iraq, by 

increasing directed accountable assistance to these populations and their 

host countries, facilitating the resettlement of Iraqis at risk, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 23 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mrs. CLINTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To address the impending humanitarian crisis and potential 

security breakdown as a result of the mass influx of 

Iraqi refugees into neighboring countries, and the growing internally displaced population in Iraq, by increasing 

directed accountable assistance to these populations and 

their host countries, facilitating the resettlement of Iraqis 

at risk, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Iraqi Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons Humani4 tarian Assistance, Resettlement, and Security Act of 

5 2008’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Findings. 

Sec. 4. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 5. Statements of policy. 

Sec. 6. Humanitarian assistance for vulnerable populations in Iraq and Iraqi 

refugees. 

Sec. 7. Iraqi refugee admissions and processing. 

Sec. 8. International cooperation. 

Sec. 9. Reports to Congress. 

8 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) IDPS.—The term ‘‘IDPs’’ means internally 

11 displaced people in Iraq. 

12 (2) UNHCR.—The term ‘‘UNHCR’’ means the 

13 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for 

14 Refugees. 

15 (3) VULNERABLE POPULATIONS IN IRAQ.—The 

16 term ‘‘vulnerable populations in Iraq’’ includes 

17 IDPs, Iraqis from ethnically mixed families, women 

18 at risk, unaccompanied children and adolescents, the 

19 elderly, Iraqis with serious medical needs, survivors 

20 of violence or torture, Iraqis who are members of re21 ligious or other minority groups, including Chaldo 


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1 Assyrian Christians, Sabian Mandaens, Yazidis, 

2 Jews, and Baha’is, and any other group determined 

3 to vulnerable by the Secretary of State in consulta4 tion with the UNHCR. 

5 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Since the beginning of the war in Iraq, ac8 cording to the UNHCR, more than 2,000,000 Iraqis 

9 have fled their homes for neighboring countries to 

10 avoid sectarian and other violence. 

11 (2) According to the UNHCR, there are more 

12 than 2,700,000 IDPs, many lacking adequate food, 

13 shelter, and other basic services. 

14 (3) The security situation in several locations 

15 within Iraq reduces access to the Iraqi population by 

16 Iraqi Government agencies and humanitarian aid 

17 providers and greatly limits the provision of aid. 

18 (4) The Iraq Study group predicted that ‘‘[a] 

19 humanitarian catastrophe could follow as more refu20 gees are forced to relocate across the country and 

21 the region.’’. 

22 (5) The dispersion of Iraqi refugees in poor 

23 urban areas of host countries makes it exceedingly 

24 difficult for humanitarian agencies to identify and 

25 reach these populations. 


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1 (6) Many Iraqis have put their lives and those 

2 of their families at risk by working for the United 

3 States Government, United States corporations, the 

4 United States media, and nongovernmental organi5 zations. 

6 (7) Since March 2003, the United States has 

7 resettled less than 20,000 Iraqi refugees, while Jor8 dan and Syria have provided temporary asylum to 

9 2,000,000 Iraqis, and other countries neighboring 

10 Iraq have received tens of thousands more Iraqis. 

11 (8) Since March 2003, Sweden has accepted 

12 40,000 Iraqi refugees, and Denmark evacuated and 

13 resettled 370 Iraqi interpreters and other Iraqis who 

14 worked for Danish troops prior to the Danish con15 tingent’s departure from Iraq in 2007. 

16 (9) Current United States policies governing 

17 the processing of refugees constrain United States 

18 Government agencies from expediting the screening 

19 processes and increasing the number of Iraqis ac20 cepted into the United States. 

21 (10) The massive flow of Iraqi refugees into 

22 neighboring host countries has overwhelmed existing 

23 social, economic, and security capacities of such 

24 countries. 


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1 (11) While Iraqi refugees and IDPs are dis2 proportionately made up of vulnerable populations, 

3 many other segments of the Iraqi population at large 

4 are also vulnerable. 

5 (12) Increasing poverty and despair among dis6 placed populations may provide fertile ground for ex7 tremist ideologies to take root and possible recruit8 ment by extremist groups. 

9 (13) The humanitarian crisis in Iraq and neigh10 boring countries threatens to destabilize the entire 

11 region. 

12 (14) United States policy is to admit at least 

13 50 percent of the refugees referred by the UNHCR. 

14 In 2007, the UNHCR referred more than 10,000 

15 cases to the United States, and the United States 

16 resettled 1,608 Iraqi refugees. The United States 

17 has pledged to admit 12,000 Iraqi refugees during 

18 2008. 

19 (15) During 2008, the Government of Iraq has 

20 dedicated $18,000,000 to its Ministry of Displaced 

21 and Immigration and offered $25,000,000 to neigh22 boring countries hosting Iraqi refugees, even as the 

23 Government of Iraq is predicting it will likely gen24 erate more than $32,000,000,000 in oil revenues 

25 during 2008 alone. 


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1 (16) The United States has yet to disclose a 

2 long-term comprehensive strategy to address human3 itarian and security crisis related to Iraqi refugees. 

4 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) Iraqi refugees and IDPs will have an impact 

7 on the security of the region and the short- and 

8 long-term effects of their displacement should be 

9 considered within overall United States toward Iraq 

10 policy and be addressed at the highest levels of Gov11 ernment; 

12 (2) it is in the United States humanitarian and 

13 national interests to demonstrate the United States 

14 commitment to resettle Iraqi refugees and IDPs and 

15 the United States should work with other govern16 ments, including the member states of the Organiza17 tion for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to en18 courage such governments to do the same; and 

19 (3) the United States should express its grati20 tude and support to host countries for providing hu21 manitarian assistance to Iraqi refugees and to coun22 tries that have already resettled Iraqi refugees. 

23 SEC. 5. STATEMENTS OF POLICY. 

24 The policy of the United States shall be the following: 


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1 (1) To lead an initiative to provide for the relief 

2 of vulnerable populations in Iraq and Iraqi refugees 

3 in neighboring countries and to take the lead in 

4 funding assistance requests from the UNHCR, other 

5 humanitarian agencies, and international organiza6 tions by funding at levels well above the traditional 

7 United States share, and to assist in the resettle8 ment of Iraqi refugees. 

9 (2) To develop immediately a long-term com10 prehensive strategy for Iraq in coordination with the 

11 Government of Iraq and host countries, the United 

12 Nations, and nongovernmental organizations to meet 

13 the humanitarian and security needs of Iraqi refu14 gees and IDPs and to establish within the Executive 

15 Office of the President a Special Coordinator for 

16 Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons to 

17 ensure expeditious and effective implementation of 

18 such a strategy. 

19 (3) To work with the Government of Iraq, the 

20 United Nations, and nongovernmental organizations 

21 to help the Government of Iraq improve its capacity 

22 and ability to provide relief for vulnerable popu23 lations in Iraq in all communities throughout Iraq 

24 and to provide assistance to Iraqi refugees in neigh25 boring countries. 


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1 (4) To commit to working with international 

2 partners, including the United Nations, donor coun3 tries, international financial institutions, inter4 national and indigenous nongovernmental organiza5 tions, and other international organizations to assist 

6 in providing for the emergency, medium-, and long7 term humanitarian needs of vulnerable populations 

8 in Iraq and Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries. 

9 SEC. 6. HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FOR VULNERABLE 

10 POPULATIONS IN IRAQ AND IRAQI REFU11 GEES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to vulnerable popu13 lations in Iraq and with respect to each country containing 

14 a significant population of Iraqi refugees, including Jor15 dan, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iran, the Sec16 retary of State shall provide bilateral assistance to such 

17 countries, as appropriate under United States law, or 

18 funding to international organizations and nongovern19 mental organizations in accordance with subsection (b) 

20 that are working to provide humanitarian assistance, in21 cluding adequate food, shelter, clean drinking water, sani22 tation, health care, education, and protection to such refu23 gees or populations. 

24 (b) ASSISTANCE AND FUNDING.—Assistance and 

25 funding under subsection (a) shall be in the form of— 


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1 (1) contributions to the UNHCR that are not 

2 less than 50 percent of the amount requested by the 

3 UNHCR and other international organizations pro4 viding humanitarian assistance to vulnerable popu5 lations in Iraq and to Iraqi refugees in neighboring 

6 countries, for 2008, 2009, and 2010 for aid to such 

7 populations and refugees; 

8 (2) contributions to the International Federa9 tion of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, other non10 governmental organizations, and other international 

11 organizations working in such countries to provide 

12 aid to vulnerable populations in Iraq and to Iraqi 

13 refugees in neighboring countries; and 

14 (3) technical assistance to relevant ministries of 

15 the Government of Iraq, contingent on substantially 

16 increased Government of Iraq funding of assistance 

17 programs for vulnerable populations in Iraq and for 

18 Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries, together 

19 with appropriate monitoring mechanisms. 

20 (c) SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO VULNER21 ABLE POPULATIONS IN IRAQ AND IRAQI REFUGEES.—The 

22 Secretary of State shall make every effort to ensure that 

23 the humanitarian needs of vulnerable populations in Iraq 

24 and Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries are met, in25 cluding increased resources to improve the registration caVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:21 Sep 24, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3541.IS S3541

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1 pabilities of nongovernmental organizations for such vul2 nerable populations and such refugees, adequate food, 

3 shelter, clean drinking water, sanitation, health care, edu4 cation, and protection. 

5 (d) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

7 appropriated $700,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

8 2009, 2010, and 2011 to carry out this section. 

9 Amounts appropriated pursuant to this authoriza10 tion shall be in addition to amounts otherwise avail11 able for such purposes. 

12 (2) FOR JORDAN.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts 

14 authorized to be appropriated pursuant to para15 graph (1), there is authorized to be appro16 priated $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 to 

17 Jordan to provide humanitarian assistance to 

18 Iraqi refugees and to provide the necessary in19 frastructure to support both the needs of Iraqi 

20 refugees and the Jordanian people, such as for 

21 housing, educational facilities, health clinics, 

22 improved access to water resources and sanita23 tion facilities and related social services. 

24 (B) COOPERATION AND MONITORING.—In 

25 cooperation with the Government of Jordan, the 


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1 President shall establish appropriate monitoring 

2 and transparency mechanisms to ensure that 

3 funds appropriated pursuant to the authoriza4 tion of appropriations in subparagraph (A) are 

5 effectively administered. 

6 SEC. 7. IRAQI REFUGEE ADMISSIONS AND PROCESSING. 

7 (a) NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—In addition to the 

8 numerical limitations provided for under subsections (a) 

9 and (b) of section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality 

10 Act (8 U.S.C. 1157), the number of refugees who may 

11 be admitted during fiscal years 2009, 2010, and 2011 

12 under subsection (c) of such section shall be increased by 

13 not fewer than 20,000 for the purpose of admitting refu14 gees who— 

15 (1) are citizens or nationals of Iraq; and 

16 (2) became refugees on or after March 19, 

17 2003. 

18 (b) PROCESSING PERSONNEL INCREASE.—Not later 

19 than September 30, 2009, the Secretary of State, in co20 ordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall, 

21 subject to the availability of appropriations for such pur22 pose, have increased by 100 percent the number of Fed23 eral personnel in Iraq (and in other countries in the re24 gion, where appropriate) who are conducting security re25 views of Iraqis who have applied for admission to the 


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1 United States as refugees above the number of such per2 sonnel conducting such reviews on the date of the enact3 ment of this Act. 

4 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

6 necessary for fiscal years 2009 through 2011 to carry out 

7 this section. 

8 SEC. 8. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. 

9 The Secretary of State, in cooperation with the Sec10 retary of Homeland Security, shall work with the inter11 national community, including the United Nations, the 

12 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the 

13 European Union, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab 

14 League, the Organization of American States, the Associa15 tion of Southeast Asian Nations, and others to establish 

16 mechanisms to provide— 

17 (1) financial assistance to vulnerable popu18 lations in Iraq and to Iraqi refugees in neighboring 

19 countries through bilateral assistance to host govern20 ments or through international organizations that 

21 are working directly with such populations and such 

22 refugees; 

23 (2) technical and financial assistance to inter24 national organizations in order to process refugees; 

25 and 


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1 (3) increased attention to and advocacy on be2 half of vulnerable populations in Iraq and Iraqi refu3 gees in neighboring countries by continuing to 

4 strongly support the work of United Nations agen5 cies and international organizations providing pro6 tection and assistance. 

7 SEC. 9. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, and every 6 months thereafter, the Sec10 retary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security 

11 shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

12 Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

13 House of Representatives a report on the implementation 

14 of this Act, including— 

15 (1) information concerning assistance and fund16 ing to host countries and international organizations 

17 and nongovernmental organizations pursuant to sec18 tion 6, and accountability reports regarding the ex19 penditure of such funds; 

20 (2) information concerning measures taken by 

21 the United States to increase its capabilities to proc22 ess IDPs and Iraqi refugees for resettlement and the 

23 number of such IDPs and refugees resettled under 

24 section 7; 


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1 (3) an evaluation of the effectiveness of meas2 ures implemented by agencies of the Government of 

3 Iraq to provide direct assistance to vulnerable popu4 lations in Iraq and Iraqi refugees in neighboring 

5 countries; and 

6 (4) information concerning progress on the im7 plementation of the long-term comprehensive strat8 egy described in section 5(2). 

Æ 


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