I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1263 

To redeploy United States Armed Forces from the non-Kurdish areas of 

Iraq if certain security, political, and economic benchmarks relating to 

Iraq are not met, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2007 

Mr. BERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Rules 

and Foreign Affairs, 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 redeploy United States Armed Forces from the nonKurdish areas of Iraq if certain security, political, and 

economic benchmarks relating to Iraq are not met, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Iraq Benchmarks 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REDEPLOYMENT OF UNITED STATES ARMED 

2 FORCES FROM THE NON-KURDISH AREAS OF 

3 IRAQ. 

4 (a) REDEPLOYMENT OF ARMED FORCES FROM

5 IRAQ.—If the President is unable to make the determina6 tions described in section 3 subject to the deadlines speci7 fied in such section, or if a joint resolution described in 

8 section 4 disapproving any such determination is enacted 

9 into law, then the Secretary of Defense shall, not later 

10 than 30 days after the applicable deadline specified in sec11 tion 3 or the date of the enactment of the joint resolution, 

12 as the case may be, commence the redeployment of the 

13 Armed Forces from the non-Kurdish areas of Iraq, and 

14 complete such redeployment not later than 180 days after 

15 the date of the commencement of such redeployment. 

16 (b) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS TO CONTINUE

17 DEPLOYMENT OF ARMED FORCES IN IRAQ.—Except as 

18 provided in subsection (c), funds appropriated or other19 wise made available under any provision of law may not 

20 be obligated or expended to deploy or continue to deploy 

21 members or units of the Armed Forces in the non-Kurdish 

22 areas of Iraq after the conclusion of the 180-day period 

23 for redeployment specified in subsection (a). 

24 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary of Defense may de25 ploy members of the Armed Forces in the non-Kurdish 

26 areas of Iraq for purposes of— 


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1 (1) providing security for the United States 

2 Embassy and other United States diplomatic facili3 ties in Iraq; 

4 (2) engaging in limited operations, involving 

5 less than 500 members of the Armed Forces, to kill 

6 or capture members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist 

7 organizations that pose a threat to the national se8 curity of the United States; and 

9 (3) training members of the Iraqi Security 

10 Forces. 

11 SEC. 3. DETERMINATIONS REGARDING THE ACHIEVEMENT 

12 OF SECURITY, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC 

13 BENCHMARKS ACCEPTED BY THE GOVERN14 MENT OF IRAQ. 

15 (a) DETERMINATIONS.—The determinations referred 

16 to in section 2(a) are— 

17 (1) a determination by the President on or be18 fore July 1, 2007, and every 90 days thereafter, that 

19 the Government of Iraq— 

20 (A) is delivering necessary Iraqi Security 

21 Forces for Baghdad and protecting such Forces 

22 from political interference; 

23 (B) is intensifying efforts to build balanced 

24 security forces throughout Iraq that provide 

25 even-handed security for all Iraqis; 


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1 (C) has given United States Armed Forces 

2 and Iraqi Security Forces the authority to pur3 sue all extremists, including Sunni insurgents 

4 and Shiite militias; 

5 (D) is making substantial progress in 

6 meeting its commitment to pursue reconciliation 

7 initiatives, including the enactment of a law to 

8 provide for the equitable distribution of oil and 

9 gas revenues, the enactment of a revised de10 Baathification law to provide for the meaningful 

11 participation of Sunni Arabs at all levels of the 

12 Government of Iraq, and the holding of provin13 cial elections; and 

14 (E) is making substantial progress in pro15 viding the even-handed delivery of services and 

16 resources to all Iraqis; and 

17 (2) a determination by the President on or be18 fore October 1, 2007, and every 90 days thereafter, 

19 that the Government of Iraq and United States 

20 Armed Forces are making substantial progress in re21 ducing the level of sectarian violence in Iraq. 

22 (b) TRANSMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The President 

23 shall transmit any determination made under subsection 

24 (a) to the Congress within three calendar days of making 

25 such determination, along with a report in classified and 


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1 unclassified form detailing the basis for such determina2 tion. 

3 SEC. 4. JOINT RESOLUTION DISAPPROVING PRESIDENTIAL 

4 DETERMINATION. 

5 (a) CONTENTS OF RESOLUTION.—For purposes of 

6 this section, a joint resolution referred to in section 2(a) 

7 is a joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress, which 

8 does not contain a preamble, and the sole matter after 

9 the resolving clause of which is as follows: ‘‘That the Con10 gress disapproves the determination of the President relat11 ing to llll transmitted to the Congress pursuant to 

12 section 3(b) of the Iraq Benchmarks Act on 

13 lllll.’’, with the first blank space being filled with 

14 a description of the applicable determination or determina15 tions and the second blank space being filled with the ap16 propriate date. 

17 (b) INTRODUCTION OF RESOLUTION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A joint resolution described 

19 in subsection (a) may be introduced at any time dur20 ing the 90-day period beginning on the date on 

21 which the President transmits to Congress a deter22 mination or determinations described in section 3 in 

23 accordance with an applicable deadline described in 

24 such section. During the first 30 days of the 90-day 

25 period specified in the preceding sentence, a joint 


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1 resolution will be considered to be a joint resolution 

2 described in subsection (a) only if it is introduced in 

3 the House of Representatives by the majority leader 

4 or minority leader of the House or introduced in the 

5 Senate by the majority leader or minority leader of 

6 the Senate. 

7 (2) LIMITATION.—After a committee reports, or 

8 is discharged from further consideration of, a joint 

9 resolution disapproving a determination or deter10 minations described in section 3 for an applicable 

11 deadline described in such section it shall not be in 

12 order to move to proceed to the consideration of an13 other joint resolution disapproving such determina14 tion or determinations in either House. 

15 (c) REFERRAL TO COMMITTEES.—A joint resolution 

16 described in subsection (a) introduced in the House of 

17 Representatives shall be referred to the Committee on 

18 Armed Services and a joint resolution described in sub19 section (a) introduced in the Senate shall be referred to 

20 the Committee on Armed Services. 

21 (d) DISCHARGE OF COMMITTEES.—If the committee 

22 of either House to which a joint resolution described in 

23 subsection (a) has been referred has not reported such 

24 joint resolution at the end of 10 calendar days (excluding 

25 Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays, except when the relVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:41 Mar 03, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1263.IH H1263

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1 evant House is in session on such a day) after its introduc2 tion, such committee shall be discharged from further con3 sideration of such joint resolution, and such joint resolu4 tion shall be placed on the appropriate calendar of the rel5 evant House. 

6 (e) FLOOR CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REP7 RESENTATIVES AND SENATE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—On or after the third cal9 endar day (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, or legal 

10 holidays, except when the relevant House is in ses11 sion on such a day) after the date on which the com12 mittee to which a joint resolution described in sub13 section (a) is referred has reported, or has been dis14 charged from further consideration of, such a joint 

15 resolution, it shall be in order for any Member of the 

16 relevant House to move to proceed to the consider17 ation of the joint resolution. A Member of the rel18 evant House may make the motion only on the day 

19 after the calendar day on which the Member an20 nounces to the relevant House the Member’s inten21 tion to do so. Such motion shall be privileged and 

22 shall not be debatable. The motion shall not be sub23 ject to amendment or to a motion to postpone. A 

24 motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion 

25 is agreed to shall not be in order. If a motion to proVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:41 Mar 03, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1263.IH H1263

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1 ceed to the consideration of the joint resolution is 

2 agreed to, the relevant House shall immediately pro3 ceed to consideration of the joint resolution which 

4 shall remain the unfinished business until disposed 

5 of. 

6 (2) DEBATE.—Debate on a joint resolution de7 scribed in subsection (a) and on all debatable mo8 tions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be 

9 limited to not more than 36 hours in the House of 

10 Representatives and not more than 50 hours in the 

11 Senate, which shall be divided equally between those 

12 favoring and those opposing the joint resolution. An 

13 amendment to the joint resolution shall not be in 

14 order. A motion to further limit debate shall be in 

15 order and shall not be debatable. A motion to table, 

16 a motion to postpone, or a motion to recommit the 

17 joint resolution shall not be in order. A motion to re18 consider the vote by which the joint resolution is 

19 agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. 

20 (3) APPEALS.—Appeals from the decisions of 

21 the Chair to the procedure relating to a joint resolu22 tion described in subsection (a) shall be decided 

23 without debate. 

24 (f) CONSIDERATION BY THE OTHER HOUSE.—If, be25 fore the passage by one House of a joint resolution deVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:41 Mar 03, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1263.IH H1263

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1 scribed in subsection (a) of that House disapproving a de2 termination or determinations described in section 3 for 

3 an applicable deadline described in such section, that 

4 House receives a joint resolution described in subsection 

5 (a) from the other House disapproving the same deter6 mination or determinations, then the following procedures 

7 shall apply: 

8 (1) The joint resolution of the other House 

9 shall not be referred to a committee and may not be 

10 considered in the House receiving it except in the 

11 case of final passage as provided in paragraph 

12 (2)(B). 

13 (2) With respect to a joint resolution of the 

14 House receiving the joint resolution— 

15 (A) the procedure in that House shall be 

16 the same as if no joint resolution had been re17 ceived from the other House; but 

18 (B) the vote on final passage shall be on 

19 the joint resolution of the other House. 

20 (3) Upon disposition of the joint resolution re21 ceived from the other House, it shall no longer be 

22 in order to consider the joint resolution that origi23 nated in the receiving House. 

24 (g) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND

25 SENATE.—This section is enacted by Congress— 


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1 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

2 the House of Representatives and the Senate, re3 spectively, and as such is deemed a part of the rules 

4 of each House, respectively, and such procedures su5 persede other rules only to the extent that they are 

6 inconsistent with such other rules; and 

7 (2) with the full recognition of the constitu8 tional right of either House to change the rules (so 

9 far as relating to the procedures of that House) at 

10 any time, in the same manner, and to the same ex11 tent as any other rule of that House. 

12 SEC. 5. MANDATORY CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF NEW 

13 PLAN TO STABILIZE IRAQ. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the President proposes a new 

15 plan to stabilize Iraq after the date of the enactment of 

16 this Act and prior to the redeployment of United States 

17 Armed Forces from Iraq, then— 

18 (1) the President shall promptly transmit a 

19 copy of such plan to Congress; and 

20 (2) the President may implement such plan 

21 only if a joint resolution described in subsection (b) 

22 approving such plan is enacted into law. 

23 (b) JOINT RESOLUTION APPROVING NEW PLAN TO

24 STABILIZE IRAQ.— 


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1 (1) CONTENTS OF JOINT RESOLUTION.—For 

2 purposes of this section, a joint resolution referred 

3 to in subsection (a) is a joint resolution of the two 

4 Houses of Congress, the sole matter after the resolv5 ing clause of which is as follows: ‘‘That the Congress 

6 approves the plan to stabilize Iraq transmitted by 

7 the President to the Congress pursuant to section 

8 5(a)(1) of the Iraq Benchmarks Act 

9 onlllll.’’, with the blank space being filled 

10 with the appropriate date. 

11 (2) PROCEDURES IN THE HOUSE OF REP12 RESENTATIVES AND SENATE.—The procedures de13 scribed in subsections (b) through (f) of section 4 

14 shall apply to a joint resolution described in para15 graph (1) in the same manner and to the same ex16 tent as such procedures apply to a joint resolution 

17 described in section 4(a). 

18 SEC. 6. DEFINITION. 

19 As used in this Act, the term ‘‘Armed Forces’’ has 

20 the meaning given the term in section 101(a)(4) of title 

21 10, United States Code. 

Æ 


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