WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bill Delahunt will be holding the fifth 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.  At the previous four hearings Administration witnesses declined to testify, but after a personal appeal from Delahunt to Secretary of State Rice, top policy-makers will finally be witnesses. 

The current United Nations Security Council Mandate authorizing combat operations is set to expire at the end of the year.  Rather than extending the UN Mandate as has been done annually since 2005, the Bush administration has proposed replacing it with a bilateral long-term agreement.   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, previous hearings of Delahunt’s subcommittee have established that the SOFAs that are in effect in over 100 countries 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.   They do not typically encompass commitments or authorizations to engage in combat, which legal scholars have testified require Congressional approval.

The hearing will examine in detail the elements of the proposed agreement.  There will be two panels of witnesses, one from the Administration and one composed of leading legal scholars on the role of Congress in approving international agreements.

WHO:             Subcommittees on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight and the Middle East and South Asia

DATE:         Tuesday March 4, 2008

TIME:          2:00 p.m.

WHERE:        Room 2200 of the Rayburn House Office Building

SUBJECT:      “Declaration and Principles:  Future U.S. Commitments to Iraq"

WITNESSES:

The Honorable David Satterfield
Senior Adviser
Coordinator for Iraq
U.S. Department of State

The Honorable Mary Beth Long
Assistant Secretary of Defense
International Security Affairs
U.S. Department of Defense   

NOTE:   Witnesses may be added. Room Location may be changed.

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