House and Senate leaders have agreed on an Iraq Supplemental Appropriations bill that includes provisions authored by Senators John Warner (R-VA), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) that require the Iraqi government to meet certain benchmarks of progress. The provisions require the President to provide two progress reports to Congress, on July 15 and September 15 of this year, on whether the Iraqis are meeting 18 benchmarks essential to achieving political reconciliation in Iraq. The benchmarks include: requirement that the Iraqis increase the number of their security forces capable of operating independently; enactment and implementation of de-Baathification legislation; enactment of constitutional and electoral reforms; and passage of legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of oil revenues.
The legislation was passed by both the House the Senate on May 24 and will soon be signed by the President.
An exact version of the Warner-Collins-Nelson proposal was approved by a bipartisan majority of the Senate in a separate vote last week.
During a news conference on Capitol Hill today, Senator Collins said, “This legislation will not only ensure that our troops get the funding that they need for training, for equipment, for other essential purposes; it will ensure that the Iraqis are accountable for meeting benchmarks. It also requires that there will be consequences if the Iraqis do not meet these benchmarks.”
The Warner-Collins provision includes a measure authored by Senator Collins that conditions the release of reconstruction funds to progress made by the Iraqi government. “If the Iraqis are not making progress, we should not continue to provide reconstruction funds. This sends a very strong message to the Iraqi leaders that the status quo is not acceptable. It also tells the Iraqis that our presence and our commitment in Iraq is neither open ended nor unconditional” said Senator Collins.
Senator Collins also reiterated her view that if the President’s strategy of deploying additional troops to Iraq, which she opposes, does not demonstrate significant results by September, then she believes that Congress should consider all options, including a redefinition of our mission in Iraq and a gradual, but significant withdrawal of our troops next year.
In addition Senator Collins recently called on the Senate Armed Services Committee to provide an opportunity in early September for General David Petraeus to give the Committee a full assessment of the current U.S. strategy in Iraq.
A summary of the Warner-Collins Amendment follows:
- Conditions the U.S. strategy in Iraq on the Iraqi government meeting benchmarks they themselves have laid out. These benchmarks include increasing the number of Iraqi security forces units capable of operating independently; ensuring the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature are protected; enacting and implementing de-Baathification legislation; and enacting constitutional and electoral reforms.
- Requires that the Iraqis allocate and spend $10 billion in Iraqi revenues for reconstruction projects, including delivery of essential services, on an equitable basis.
· Requires the President to submit an initial report on July 15, 2007, assessing whether the Iraqis have made satisfactory progress towards meeting each of the benchmarks. If the President’s assessment is that the Iraqis are making unsatisfactory progress, the President will include in the July report a description of how the U.S. political, economic, regional, and military strategy in Iraq will be revised to achieve progress on the benchmarks.
· Requires the President to submit a second report to Congress on September 15, 2007, further assessing whether the Iraqis are making progress on benchmarks. This report will be accompanied by testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee by General Petreaus.
· Conditions the release of economic funds to the Iraqis on their meeting the benchmarks. Our amendment would prohibit the release of funds from the Economic Support Fund, which provides U.S. assistance for economic reconstruction projects, to the Iraqis unless and until the President of the U.S. certifies in his July and September reports that the Iraqis are making progress on the benchmarks.
· Lays out a redeployment plan if the Iraqis decide within the context of their constitutional framework that they want U.S. troops to leave Iraq.