WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bill Delahunt will be holding the fourth in a series of hearings tomorrow to examine the Administration’s plan for a long-term security agreement with Iraq, as first outlined in the Declaration of Principles signed by President Bush and Prime Minister al-Maliki on November 26, 2007. 

With the current United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing combat operations set to expire at the end of the year, the Bush administration has proposed a new long term agreement to replace it.   In recent weeks the Administration has been characterizing the new security agreement as a “Status of Forces Agreement” or SOFA, which does not require consultation with Congress. 

However, SOFAs are in effect in over 100 countries and are narrow agreements that typically establish rules for routine defense operations in foreign countries such as use of airfields and protection of the rights of American soldiers.  This hearing will examine if long term security commitments with foreign governments can be made in a status of forces agreement and without consultation with Congress.

The scope of this hearing will be to examine the UN resolutions and SOFAs in order to determine what authorities and protections they can provide. 

WHO:             Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight.
DATE:            Thursday, February 28, 2008
TIME:             9:30 a.m.
WHERE:          Room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building
SUBJECT:      “Status of Forces Agreements and UN Mandates:  What Authorities and Protections Do They  Provide to U.S. Personnel?”

WITNESSES:
Jennifer K. Elsea, Esq.
Legislative Attorney
American Law Division
Congressional Research Service
                                   
R. Chuck Mason, Esq.
Legislative Attorney
Congressional Research Service

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

Laura Dickinson, Esq.
Professor of Law
University of Connecticut School of Law

Ruth Wedgwood, Esq.
Edward B. Burling Professor of International Law and Diplomacy
Director of the International Law and Organizations Program
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Johns Hopkins University                       
                                   
NOTE:   Witnesses may be added.

To read a report by the Congressional Research Service on this issue, please click here.

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