II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1144 

To provide for an assessment of the achievement by the Government of 

Iraq of benchmarks for political settlement and national reconciliation 

in Iraq. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 2007 

Ms. SNOWE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To provide for an assessment of the achievement by the 

Government of Iraq of benchmarks for political settlement and national reconciliation in 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. ASSESSMENT OF ACHIEVEMENT BY THE GOV4 ERNMENT OF IRAQ OF BENCHMARKS FOR PO5 LITICAL SETTLEMENT AND NATIONAL REC6 ONCILIATION IN IRAQ. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 


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1 (1) Iraq is experiencing a deteriorating and 

2 ever-widening problem of sectarian and intra-sec3 tarian violence based upon political distrust and cul4 tural differences between some Sunni and Shia Mus5 lims, concentrated primarily in Baghdad. 

6 (2) Iraqis must reach political settlements in 

7 order to achieve reconciliation, and the failure of the 

8 Iraqis to reach such settlements to support a truly 

9 unified government greatly contributes to the in10 creasing violence in Iraq. 

11 (3) The responsibility for internal security and 

12 halting sectarian violence in Iraq must rest primarily 

13 with the Government of Iraq, relying on the Iraqi 

14 Security Forces (ISF). 

15 (4) On January 10, 2007, President George W. 

16 Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq, which con17 sists of three basic elements: diplomatic, economic, 

18 and military. The central component of the military 

19 element is an augmentation of the present level of 

20 United States military forces in Iraq with more than 

21 20,000 additional United States military forces to 

22 ‘‘work alongside Iraqi units and be embedded in 

23 their formations. Our troops will have a well-defined 

24 mission: to help Iraqis clear and secure neighbor25 hoods, to help them protect the local population, and 


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1 to help ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind are 

2 capable of providing the security that Baghdad 

3 needs’’. 

4 (5) President George W. Bush said on January 

5 10, 2007, that ‘‘I’ve made it clear to the Prime Min6 ister and Iraq’s other leaders that America’s com7 mitment is not open-ended’’ so as to dispel the con8 trary impression that exists. 

9 (6) The Commander, Multi-National Forces— 

10 Iraq, General David Petraeus, stated during his con11 firmation hearing before the Committee on Armed 

12 Services of the Senate, on January 23, 2007, that 

13 it is ‘‘very important’’ for Iraqis to understand that 

14 they need to reach the political settlements which 

15 are essential to resolve the sectarian violence and to 

16 defeat insurgents. 

17 (7) General Petraeus acknowledged during his 

18 confirmation hearing before the Committee on 

19 Armed Services of the Senate, on January 23, 2007, 

20 that political settlement and political settlement 

21 alone by the Iraqis is our ultimate way of providing 

22 security and success in Iraq. 

23 (8) General Petraeus stated on March 8, 2007 

24 that ‘‘[a] political resolution of various differences, 

25 of this legislation, of various senses that people do 


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1 not have a stake in the success of the new Iraq, and 

2 so forth, that is crucial. That is what will determine 

3 in the long run the success of this effort’’. 

4 (9) General Petraeus, as principal author of 

5 Army Field Manual 3–24 (MCWP 3–33.5), 

6 Counterinsurgency, released in December 2006, and 

7 therefore possessing the unique understanding and 

8 experience regarding the principles and fundamen9 tals of pursuing a counterinsurgency strategy, states 

10 that ‘‘[i]n the end, the host nation has to win on its 

11 own. Achieving this requires development of viable 

12 local leaders and institutions. U.S. forces and agen13 cies can help, but [Host Nation] elements must ac14 cept responsibilities to achieve real victory’’. 

15 (10) United States military operations in Iraq 

16 should be conducted alongside a comprehensive dip17 lomatic, political, and economic strategy that in18 cludes sustained engagement with Iraq’s neighbors 

19 and the international community for the purpose of 

20 working collectively to bring stability to Iraq. 

21 (11) United States strategy in Iraq should be 

22 conditioned on the meeting by the Government of 

23 Iraq of specific benchmarks, as laid out by the 

24 President and in consultation with Congress, and reVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:46 Apr 19, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1144.IS S1144

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1 flected in the commitments of the Government of 

2 Iraq to the international community. 

3 (12) The meeting of these benchmarks by the 

4 Government of Iraq should be viewed as the condi5 tion for continued United States military and eco6 nomic involvement in Iraq. 

7 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that Congress should not take any action, including 

9 the elimination or reduction of funds, that will impair the 

10 mission of the United States military forces in the field, 

11 undermine their safety or harm their effectiveness in pur12 suing their assigned missions. 

13 (c) REPORT ON ACHIEVEMENT OF BENCHMARKS.— 

14 (1) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Com16 mander, Multi-National Forces-Iraq, having con17 sulted with relevant United States and Iraqi offi18 cials, shall submit to Congress a report setting forth 

19 the status of the achievement of the benchmarks 

20 specified in paragraph (2), and stating the Com21 mander’s assessment whether or not each such 

22 benchmark has been met. 

23 (2) BENCHMARKS.—The benchmarks specified 

24 in this paragraph are as follows: 


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1 (A) The assumption by Iraq of control of 

2 its military. 

3 (B) The enactment of a Militia Law to dis4 arm and demobilize militias and to ensure that 

5 Iraqi security forces are accountable only to the 

6 central government and loyal to the constitution 

7 of Iraq. 

8 (C) The completion of the review of the 

9 constitution of Iraq and the holding of a ref10 erendum on special amendments to the con11 stitution of Iraq to ensure equitable participa12 tion in the Government of Iraq without regard 

13 to religious sect or ethnicity. 

14 (D) The completion of provincial election 

15 law and preparation for the conduct of provin16 cial elections that ensures equitable constitution 

17 of provincial representative bodies without re18 gard to religious sect or ethnicity. 

19 (E) The enactment and implementation of 

20 legislation to ensure that the energy resources 

21 of Iraq benefit Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, 

22 Kurds, and other Iraqi citizens in an equitable 

23 manner. 


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1 (F) The enactment and implementation of 

2 legislation that equitably reforms the de3 Ba’athification process in Iraq. 

4 (3) TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS.—Not later 

5 than 14 days after submittal to Congress of the re6 port required by paragraph (1), the Commander, 

7 Multi-National Forces-Iraq shall appear before each 

8 of the appropriate committees of Congress to testify 

9 with respect to the following: 

10 (A) The success or failure of the Govern11 ment of Iraq in meeting the benchmarks speci12 fied in paragraph (2). 

13 (B) The capacity of the Government of 

14 Iraq to meet any of such benchmarks that that 

15 Government has failed to meet. 

16 (4) TESTIMONY ON ADDITIONAL MATTER.—If 

17 the Commander, Multi-National Forces-Iraq testifies 

18 that the Government of Iraq has failed to meet any 

19 of the benchmarks specified in paragraph (2), the 

20 Commander shall also submit in the testimony re21 ferred to in paragraph (3) the following: 

22 (A) Plans for the phased redeployment of 

23 United States forces currently deployed to Iraq 

24 in support of the Baghdad Security Plan as 

25 outlined by the President. 


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1 (B) Plans for changing the mission of 

2 United States forces in Iraq to— 

3 (i) training and equipping Iraqi 

4 forces; 

5 (ii) assisting deployed Iraqi brigades 

6 with intelligence, transportation, air sup7 port, and logistics support; 

8 (iii) protecting United States and coa9 lition personnel and infrastructure; and 

10 (iv) maintaining rapid-reaction teams 

11 and special operations teams to undertake 

12 strike missions against al Qaeda in Iraq, 

13 and for other missions considered vital by 

14 the United States commander in Iraq. 

15 (5) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS

16 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appro17 priate committees of Congress’’ means— 

18 (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 

19 the Senate; and 

20 (B) the Committee on Armed Services of 

21 the House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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