Delahunt Hearing To Review Status Of U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement

11/14/2008
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight will hold his eighth hearing on the proposed U.S.-Iraq security agreement on Wednesday, November 19th at 10am.

Next week’s hearing will examine the possibility that any bilateral agreement reached between the Bush Administration and the government of Iraq may effectively tie the hands of the next Administration as a result of a clause in Article 31 in a draft of the accord that would prohibit the United States from cancelling it for one year.

At the end of October, Delahunt joined with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro in writing to President Bush asking for a temporary extension of the UN mandate for Iraq which expires on December 31, and is the sole instrument providing U.S. troops with the legal authorization to engage in combat operations in Iraq.

To read the letter, please click here. 

The subcommittee will hear from a panel of experts that will also discuss the plans and prospects of a temporary extension of the mandate as well as offer their analysis on how a rushed agreement will affect the next President.

WHO:                         Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight

WHERE:                    Room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building:

WHEN:                      Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.

SUBJECT:                  Renewing the United Nations Mandate for Iraq:  Plans and Prospects

WITNESSES:           

Oona A. Hathaway, Esq.
Professor of Law
Berkeley Law
University of California Berkeley

Mr. Raed Jarrar                    
Iraq Consultant
Middle East Peace Building Program
American Friends Service Committee

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

Issam Michael Saliba, Esq.
Senior Foreign Law Specialist
Middle East and North Africa
Law Library of Congress
 

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