Press Release   
For Immediate Release
November 17, 2008 

Contact:  Ricci Graham 
(510) 763-0370  

Renews call for passage of H.R. 6846 prohibiting President from unilaterally deploying U.S. armed forces or expending public funds to guarantee the security of Iraq

Washington D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) today issued the following statement criticizing the terms of the U.S.-Iraq security agreement approved yesterday by the Iraqi Cabinet and is now awaiting approval of the Iraqi Parliament. Congresswoman Lee renews her call for swift action of legislation she recently introduced, H.R. 6846, the “Iraq Security Agreement Act of 2008,” when the Congress convenes this week. This legislation will prohibit the unilateral deployment of U.S. armed forces or the expenditure of public funds to guarantee the security of Iraq without prior approval of Congress.

“Although a final version of the agreement reached by the Administration and the Government of Iraq has yet to be publicly announced and made available, reports of the content along with leaked copies of the agreement lead to the conclusion that this agreement will be unacceptable to the American people in its current form and should be rejected.

“For starters, the Bush agreement commits the United States to a timetable that could leave U.S. troops in Iraq until Dec. 31, 2011. Aside from the fact that the America people are plainly fed up with this unnecessary war and occupation in Iraq and want to see it ended, occupying Iraq for three more years under the Bush plan would cost American taxpayers $360 billion based on current spending levels. That money obviously could be better spent digging our economy out of the ditch the policies of the Bush Administration has put it in.

“Second, the Bush agreement undermines the constitutional powers of the next president by subjecting American military operations to ‘the approval of the Iraqi government,’ by giving operational control to ‘joint mobile operations command centers’ controlled by a joint American-Iraqi committee. Throughout history, American troops have been placed under foreign control in peacekeeping operations only where authorized under treaties ratified by the Senate. No American president has ever before claimed the unilateral power to cede command of American troops to a foreign power.

“When Congress next convenes this week, it should consider and pass H.R. 6846, which I have introduced in the House and Senator Biden has introduced in the Senate, which will prohibit the unilateral deployment of U.S. armed forces or the expenditure of public funds to guarantee the security of Iraq without prior approval of Congress.”

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