I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 651 
To require the President to seek to negotiate and enter into a bilateral 
status of forces agreement with the Government of the Islamic Republic 
of Afghanistan. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 10, 2011 
Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Ms. LEE of California, 
Mr. JONES, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. PAUL, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HONDA, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, and Ms. WATERS) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To require the President to seek to negotiate and enter 
into a bilateral status of forces agreement with the Gov-
ernment of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. 
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 ‘‘United States-Afghani-
stan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:39 Feb 15, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H651.IH
H651
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
(1) Al Qaeda, a terrorist organization using Af-
ghanistan as a base of operations, attacked the 
United States on September 11, 2001, killing nearly 
3,000 people in New York, Pennsylvania, and Vir-
ginia. 
(2) Congress passed and the President signed 
the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public 
Law 107–40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note) on September 
18, 2001. 
(3) The United States initiated Operation En-
during Freedom to combat Al Qaeda and prevent 
the Taliban regime in Afghanistan from providing Al 
Qaeda with safe harbor. 
(4) The Taliban was removed from power and 
the United States concluded security agreements 
with the newly formed Afghan government. 
(5) Al Qaeda no longer has a major or relevant 
presence in Afghanistan. 
(6) The United States and Afghanistan has ex-
changed notes, signed agreements, and issued ‘‘joint 
declarations’’ on various topics, but have not entered 
into a bilateral agreement on the status of forces. 
(7) A status of forces agreement with Afghani-
stan would not expressly authorize the United States 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:39 Feb 15, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H651.IH
H651
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
to carry out military operations in Afghanistan but 
would recognize that such operations are ongoing. 
(8) The United States is currently party to 
more than 100 agreements on the status of forces. 
(9) A status of forces agreement may be a mul-
tilateral or bilateral agreement addressing the status 
of United States Armed Forces while present in a 
foreign country. 
(10) Status of forces agreements may include— 
but are not limited to—how the domestic laws of the 
foreign jurisdiction shall be applied to United States 
personnel and contractors while in that country. 
(11) In a similar agreement, parties have 
pledged to work cooperatively in a number of fields, 
including on diplomatic, security, economic, cultural, 
and law enforcement matters. 
(12) In a similar agreement, a deadline has 
been established for the withdrawal of United States 
troops by a date certain. 
(13) United States personnel subject to a status 
of forces agreement may include members of the 
United States Armed Forces, Department of De-
fense civilian employees, and contractors working for 
the Department of Defense. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:39 Feb 15, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H651.IH
H651
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 3. STATUS OF FORCES AGREEMENT WITH AFGHANI-
STAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall seek 
to negotiate and enter into a bilateral status of forces 
agreement with the Government of Afghanistan in accord-
ance with the requirements of this section. 
(b) MANDATORY ELEMENTS.—The status of forces 
agreement specified in subsection (a) shall, to the max-
imum extent practicable— 
(1) prohibit the permanent basing or military 
presence of United States Armed Forces in Afghani-
stan; 
(2) provide a date, no later than 1 year after 
the date on which the agreement is entered into with 
the Government of Afghanistan, for the complete, 
safe, and orderly redeployment from Afghanistan of 
all members of the United States Armed Forces, De-
partment of Defense civilian employees, and contrac-
tors working for the Department of Defense; and 
(3) establish that the temporary presence of 
United States Armed Forces in Afghanistan is at 
the request and invitation of the sovereign Govern-
ment of Afghanistan. 
(c) DISCRETIONARY
ELEMENTS.—The status of 
forces agreement specified in subsection (a) may provide 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:39 Feb 15, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H651.IH
H651
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
for the authorization of specific exercises, activities, or 
missions of the United States Armed Forces in Afghani-
stan. 
(d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the President should submit the status of forces 
agreement specified in subsection (a) to the Senate for its 
advice and consent to ratification as a treaty or alter-
natively the President should request statutory authoriza-
tion for the status of forces agreement by Congress. 
(e) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall submit 
to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
of the House of Representatives and the Select Com-
mittee on Intelligence of the Senate a copy of the 
status of forces agreement specified in subsection 
(a). The status of forces agreement shall be sub-
mitted in unclassified form but may contain a classi-
fied annex if necessary. 
(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any Senator or Member of 
the House of Representatives may review the copy of 
the status of forces agreement submitted under 
paragraph (1), including any portions of the agree-
ment contained in the classified annex. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:39 Feb 15, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H651.IH
H651
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
(3) DEFINITION.—In paragraph (2), the term 
‘‘Member of the House of Representatives’’ includes 
a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to Congress. 
Æ 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:39 Feb 15, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H651.IH
H651
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS