II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 351 

To require United States Government representatives to present to the 

Government of Iraq a plan to establish an oil trust. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 29, 2009 

Mr. ENSIGN (for himself and Mr. BAYH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require United States Government representatives to 

present to the Government of Iraq a plan to establish 

an oil trust. 

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 ‘‘Support for Iraq Oil 

5 Trust Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States that— 

8 (1) the people of Iraq should benefit directly 

9 from a share of the revenues generated by the hy10 drocarbon resources of their country; and 


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1 (2) the United States Government should 

2 present a plan and provide capacity and economic 

3 assistance for the implementation of an Iraq oil 

4 trust. 

5 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that— 

7 (1) the future of Iraq’s oil reserves remains at 

8 the heart of political reconciliation in Iraq; 

9 (2) ensuring that individual Iraqis benefit di10 rectly from hydrocarbon revenues is critical to pro11 moting reconciliation and facilitating sustainable sta12 bility in Iraq; 

13 (3) the development and implementation of an 

14 oil trust could provide significant benefits to Iraq 

15 and its citizens, including by— 

16 (A) helping to demonstrate the values at 

17 the heart of democratic governance by giving 

18 Iraqi citizens a direct stake in the responsible 

19 and transparent management of the hydro20 carbon resources of Iraq and the use and dis21 tribution of hydrocarbon revenues; 

22 (B) helping to diffuse the degree and con23 centration of control of the revenues generated 

24 from hydrocarbon resources, thereby reducing 


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1 the opportunity for and magnitude of corrup2 tion; 

3 (C) facilitating ‘‘bottom-up’’ private sector 

4 development, which will be critical to Iraq’s fu5 ture prosperity and economic diversity, by put6 ting revenues from the oil resources of Iraq di7 rectly in the hands of its citizens; 

8 (D) helping to alleviate the incentive for 

9 smuggling or sabotage by providing individual 

10 citizens a direct stake in the amount of Iraqi oil 

11 that is legally produced and sold; 

12 (E) contributing to sustainable security by 

13 providing individuals monetary-resource alter14 natives to cooperating with militias, extremists, 

15 and other extra-legal entities; 

16 (F) providing additional income directly to 

17 individual citizens, thereby stimulating entre18 preneurship and reducing the reliance on the 

19 ability of the central and provincial govern20 ments to deliver basic services and execute their 

21 budgets; and 

22 (G) serving as a model for revenue dis23 tribution to other resource-rich countries in the 

24 Middle East; and 


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1 (4) the United States should provide assistance 

2 to Iraq for implementation of an oil trust. 

3 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO IRAQ. 

4 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to stip5 ulate limitations on United States assistance to Iraq for 

6 reconstruction purposes. 

7 (b) LIMITATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Unless the Secretary of 

9 State submits to the appropriate congressional com10 mittees the certification described in subsection (c) 

11 within 90 days after the date of the enactment of 

12 this Act, 10 percent of United States assistance de13 scribed in paragraph (4) that is otherwise available 

14 to Iraq through the Economic Support Fund shall 

15 be withheld. 

16 (2) ADDITIONAL WITHHOLDING OF FUNDS.— 

17 An additional 10 percent of United States assistance 

18 described in paragraph (4) that is otherwise avail19 able to Iraq through the Economic Support Fund 

20 shall be withheld for each additional 30 days after 

21 funds are withheld under paragraph (1) until the 

22 Secretary of State makes the certification described 

23 in subsection (c). 

24 (3) RELEASE OF WITHHELD FUNDS.—Any 

25 funds withheld under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall 


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1 be made available upon submission by the Secretary 

2 of State of the certification described in subsection 

3 (c). 

4 (4) COVERED ASSISTANCE.—The assistance re5 ferred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) are the following 

6 funds: 

7 (A) Provincial Reconstruction Development 

8 Council Funds. 

9 (B) Operations and Maintenance 

10 Sustainment. 

11 (C) Targeted Development Program. 

12 (c) CERTIFICATION.—The certification referred to in 

13 subsection (b) is a certification submitted by the Secretary 

14 of State to the appropriate congressional committees 

15 that— 

16 (1) certifies that representatives of the United 

17 States Government have presented to Government of 

18 Iraq representatives an oil trust plan that includes— 

19 (A) background on oil trusts, including 

20 those currently used by sovereign nations or 

21 territories and states within nations; and 

22 (B) options for different types of oil trusts 

23 that could be implemented in Iraq; and 

24 (2) includes a discussion on the steps necessary 

25 to implement an oil trust. 


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1 SEC. 5. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE2 FINED. 

3 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com4 mittees’’ means— 

5 (a) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 

6 on Foreign Relations, and the Committee on Appropria7 tions of the Senate; and 

8 (b) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 

9 on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations 

10 of the House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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