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 Com-
mittee 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 non- 
Kurdish areas of Iraq if certain security, political, and 
economic benchmarks relating to Iraq are not met, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Iraq Benchmarks 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. REDEPLOYMENT OF UNITED STATES ARMED 
FORCES FROM THE NON-KURDISH AREAS OF 
IRAQ. 
(a) REDEPLOYMENT
OF
ARMED
FORCES
FROM 
IRAQ.—If the President is unable to make the determina-
tions described in section 3 subject to the deadlines speci-
fied in such section, or if a joint resolution described in 
section 4 disapproving any such determination is enacted 
into law, then the Secretary of Defense shall, not later 
than 30 days after the applicable deadline specified in sec-
tion 3 or the date of the enactment of the joint resolution, 
as the case may be, commence the redeployment of the 
Armed Forces from the non-Kurdish areas of Iraq, and 
complete such redeployment not later than 180 days after 
the date of the commencement of such redeployment. 
(b) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS TO CONTINUE 
DEPLOYMENT OF ARMED FORCES IN IRAQ.—Except as 
provided in subsection (c), funds appropriated or other-
wise made available under any provision of law may not 
be obligated or expended to deploy or continue to deploy 
members or units of the Armed Forces in the non-Kurdish 
areas of Iraq after the conclusion of the 180-day period 
for redeployment specified in subsection (a). 
(c) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary of Defense may de-
ploy members of the Armed Forces in the non-Kurdish 
areas of Iraq for purposes of— 
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(1) providing security for the United States 
Embassy and other United States diplomatic facili-
ties in Iraq; 
(2) engaging in limited operations, involving 
less than 500 members of the Armed Forces, to kill 
or capture members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist 
organizations that pose a threat to the national se-
curity of the United States; and 
(3) training members of the Iraqi Security 
Forces. 
SEC. 3. DETERMINATIONS REGARDING THE ACHIEVEMENT 
OF SECURITY, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC 
BENCHMARKS ACCEPTED BY THE GOVERN-
MENT OF IRAQ. 
(a) DETERMINATIONS.—The determinations referred 
to in section 2(a) are— 
(1) a determination by the President on or be-
fore July 1, 2007, and every 90 days thereafter, that 
the Government of Iraq— 
(A) is delivering necessary Iraqi Security 
Forces for Baghdad and protecting such Forces 
from political interference; 
(B) is intensifying efforts to build balanced 
security forces throughout Iraq that provide 
even-handed security for all Iraqis; 
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(C) has given United States Armed Forces 
and Iraqi Security Forces the authority to pur-
sue all extremists, including Sunni insurgents 
and Shiite militias; 
(D) is making substantial progress in 
meeting its commitment to pursue reconciliation 
initiatives, including the enactment of a law to 
provide for the equitable distribution of oil and 
gas revenues, the enactment of a revised de- 
Baathification law to provide for the meaningful 
participation of Sunni Arabs at all levels of the 
Government of Iraq, and the holding of provin-
cial elections; and 
(E) is making substantial progress in pro-
viding the even-handed delivery of services and 
resources to all Iraqis; and 
(2) a determination by the President on or be-
fore October 1, 2007, and every 90 days thereafter, 
that the Government of Iraq and United States 
Armed Forces are making substantial progress in re-
ducing the level of sectarian violence in Iraq. 
(b) TRANSMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The President 
shall transmit any determination made under subsection 
(a) to the Congress within three calendar days of making 
such determination, along with a report in classified and 
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unclassified form detailing the basis for such determina-
tion. 
SEC. 4. JOINT RESOLUTION DISAPPROVING PRESIDENTIAL 
DETERMINATION. 
(a) CONTENTS OF RESOLUTION.—For purposes of 
this section, a joint resolution referred to in section 2(a) 
is a joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress, which 
does not contain a preamble, and the sole matter after 
the resolving clause of which is as follows: ‘‘That the Con-
gress disapproves the determination of the President relat-
ing to llll transmitted to the Congress pursuant to 
section 
3(b) 
of 
the 
Iraq 
Benchmarks 
Act 
on 
lllll.’’, with the first blank space being filled with 
a description of the applicable determination or determina-
tions and the second blank space being filled with the ap-
propriate date. 
(b) INTRODUCTION OF RESOLUTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A joint resolution described 
in subsection (a) may be introduced at any time dur-
ing the 90-day period beginning on the date on 
which the President transmits to Congress a deter-
mination or determinations described in section 3 in 
accordance with an applicable deadline described in 
such section. During the first 30 days of the 90-day 
period specified in the preceding sentence, a joint 
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resolution will be considered to be a joint resolution 
described in subsection (a) only if it is introduced in 
the House of Representatives by the majority leader 
or minority leader of the House or introduced in the 
Senate by the majority leader or minority leader of 
the Senate. 
(2) LIMITATION.—After a committee reports, or 
is discharged from further consideration of, a joint 
resolution disapproving a determination or deter-
minations described in section 3 for an applicable 
deadline described in such section it shall not be in 
order to move to proceed to the consideration of an-
other joint resolution disapproving such determina-
tion or determinations in either House. 
(c) REFERRAL TO COMMITTEES.—A joint resolution 
described in subsection (a) introduced in the House of 
Representatives shall be referred to the Committee on 
Armed Services and a joint resolution described in sub-
section (a) introduced in the Senate shall be referred to 
the Committee on Armed Services. 
(d) DISCHARGE OF COMMITTEES.—If the committee 
of either House to which a joint resolution described in 
subsection (a) has been referred has not reported such 
joint resolution at the end of 10 calendar days (excluding 
Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays, except when the rel-
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evant House is in session on such a day) after its introduc-
tion, such committee shall be discharged from further con-
sideration of such joint resolution, and such joint resolu-
tion shall be placed on the appropriate calendar of the rel-
evant House. 
(e) FLOOR CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REP-
RESENTATIVES AND SENATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—On or after the third cal-
endar day (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, or legal 
holidays, except when the relevant House is in ses-
sion on such a day) after the date on which the com-
mittee to which a joint resolution described in sub-
section (a) is referred has reported, or has been dis-
charged from further consideration of, such a joint 
resolution, it shall be in order for any Member of the 
relevant House to move to proceed to the consider-
ation of the joint resolution. A Member of the rel-
evant House may make the motion only on the day 
after the calendar day on which the Member an-
nounces to the relevant House the Member’s inten-
tion to do so. Such motion shall be privileged and 
shall not be debatable. The motion shall not be sub-
ject to amendment or to a motion to postpone. A 
motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion 
is agreed to shall not be in order. If a motion to pro-
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ceed to the consideration of the joint resolution is 
agreed to, the relevant House shall immediately pro-
ceed to consideration of the joint resolution which 
shall remain the unfinished business until disposed 
of. 
(2) DEBATE.—Debate on a joint resolution de-
scribed in subsection (a) and on all debatable mo-
tions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be 
limited to not more than 36 hours in the House of 
Representatives and not more than 50 hours in the 
Senate, which shall be divided equally between those 
favoring and those opposing the joint resolution. An 
amendment to the joint resolution shall not be in 
order. A motion to further limit debate shall be in 
order and shall not be debatable. A motion to table, 
a motion to postpone, or a motion to recommit the 
joint resolution shall not be in order. A motion to re-
consider the vote by which the joint resolution is 
agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. 
(3) APPEALS.—Appeals from the decisions of 
the Chair to the procedure relating to a joint resolu-
tion described in subsection (a) shall be decided 
without debate. 
(f) CONSIDERATION BY THE OTHER HOUSE.—If, be-
fore the passage by one House of a joint resolution de-
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scribed in subsection (a) of that House disapproving a de-
termination or determinations described in section 3 for 
an applicable deadline described in such section, that 
House receives a joint resolution described in subsection 
(a) from the other House disapproving the same deter-
mination or determinations, then the following procedures 
shall apply: 
(1) The joint resolution of the other House 
shall not be referred to a committee and may not be 
considered in the House receiving it except in the 
case of final passage as provided in paragraph 
(2)(B). 
(2) With respect to a joint resolution of the 
House receiving the joint resolution— 
(A) the procedure in that House shall be 
the same as if no joint resolution had been re-
ceived from the other House; but 
(B) the vote on final passage shall be on 
the joint resolution of the other House. 
(3) Upon disposition of the joint resolution re-
ceived from the other House, it shall no longer be 
in order to consider the joint resolution that origi-
nated in the receiving House. 
(g) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND 
SENATE.—This section is enacted by Congress— 
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(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 
the House of Representatives and the Senate, re-
spectively, and as such is deemed a part of the rules 
of each House, respectively, and such procedures su-
persede other rules only to the extent that they are 
inconsistent with such other rules; and 
(2) with the full recognition of the constitu-
tional right of either House to change the rules (so 
far as relating to the procedures of that House) at 
any time, in the same manner, and to the same ex-
tent as any other rule of that House. 
SEC. 5. MANDATORY CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF NEW 
PLAN TO STABILIZE IRAQ. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—If the President proposes a new 
plan to stabilize Iraq after the date of the enactment of 
this Act and prior to the redeployment of United States 
Armed Forces from Iraq, then— 
(1) the President shall promptly transmit a 
copy of such plan to Congress; and 
(2) the President may implement such plan 
only if a joint resolution described in subsection (b) 
approving such plan is enacted into law. 
(b) JOINT RESOLUTION APPROVING NEW PLAN TO 
STABILIZE IRAQ.— 
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(1) CONTENTS
OF
JOINT
RESOLUTION.—For 
purposes of this section, a joint resolution referred 
to in subsection (a) is a joint resolution of the two 
Houses of Congress, the sole matter after the resolv-
ing clause of which is as follows: ‘‘That the Congress 
approves the plan to stabilize Iraq transmitted by 
the President to the Congress pursuant to section 
5(a)(1) 
of 
the 
Iraq 
Benchmarks 
Act 
onlllll.’’, with the blank space being filled 
with the appropriate date. 
(2) PROCEDURES
IN
THE
HOUSE
OF
REP-
RESENTATIVES AND SENATE.—The procedures de-
scribed in subsections (b) through (f) of section 4 
shall apply to a joint resolution described in para-
graph (1) in the same manner and to the same ex-
tent as such procedures apply to a joint resolution 
described in section 4(a). 
SEC. 6. DEFINITION. 
As used in this Act, the term ‘‘Armed Forces’’ has 
the meaning given the term in section 101(a)(4) of title 
10, United States Code. 
Æ 
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