Congressman Bill Delahunt will be holding a joint hearing next week to examine the Bush Administration’s attempt to commit United States forces to a combat role in Iraq until at least 2018 without seeking Congressional approval.

WHO:             Joint hearing of the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, and Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.

DATE:            Wednesday, January 23, 2008

TIME:            10:00 a.m.

WHERE:        Room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building

SUBJECT:      "The Proposed U.S. Security Commitment to Iraq: What Will Be In It and Should It Be a Treaty? "

WITNESSES:

Panel I

Kenneth Katzman, Ph.D.
Specialist in Middle East Affairs
Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division
Congressional Research Service

Panel II

Michael J. Matheson, Esq.
Visiting Research Professor of Law
The George Washington University Law School

Michael Rubin, Ph.D.
Resident Scholar
American Enterprise Institute
Senior Lecturer
Center for Civil Military Relations, Naval Postgraduate School

The proposed agreement would be based on the “Declaration of Principles for a Long Term Relationship Between Iraq and the U.S.” which includes a commitment by the United States to engage in combat on behalf of the government of Iraq.

To view the Declaration of Principles, please click here.

The Administration made it clear on November 26, 2007 with a statement from General Douglas Lute that it does not intend to submit the agreement to the Senate for ratification.

To view Lute’s statement, please click here. 

 

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