Facts on HR 4156

Fact Sheet on H.R. 4156, Orderly and Responsible Iraq Redeployment Appropriations Act

As The War Continues in its Fifth Year, Congress Has a Critical Choice:

• Endorse the President’s 10-Year War With No End in Sight, or
• Hold the President Accountable, Requiring Redeployment of Our Troops to Start within 30 Days of Enactment with a Goal for Completion in One Year

Congress Won’t Provide A Blank Check; Instead Is Holding the President Accountable

Today, the House has a critical choice to make:

• Members of Congress will have to decide if they want to endorse the President’s 10-year war in Iraq with no end in sight or finally hold the President accountable, requiring redeployment of our troops to start within 30 days of enactment with a goal for completion in one year.
• Congressional Republicans, who have been supporting the President’s 10-year war, must decide: to continue to run out the clock on the President’s term in order to make this failed policy somebody else’s responsibility or to stand with the American people and vote for a New Direction in Iraq.

President Bush’s failed Iraq policies offer only a 10-year war with no end in sight:

• The Iraq war has already been going on for more than four and a half years.
• The Iraq war is already longer than U.S. participation in World War II, World War I, the Korean War, or the Civil War.
• After more than four and a half years, the price we have paid is high – with more than 3,850 U.S. troops killed and more than 28,000 U.S. troops wounded.
• President Bush’s FY 2008 request would bring the total cost of the Iraq war so far to more than $600 billion – which is greater than the total costs of the lengthy Vietnam war and the Korean war (in inflation-adjusted dollars).
• The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that, under the President’s policies, the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could total $2.4 trillion through the next decade.
• The war increasingly strains our military – now creating the worst crisis in U.S. troop readiness and our ability to respond to new threats since Vietnam.

This Bill Requires Redeployment of Our Troops Within 30 Days, With A Goal for Completion of Deployment by December 15, 2008

The bill provides that it is the sense of the Congress that:

• The war in Iraq should end as safely and quickly as possible and our troops should be brought home.
• The performance of U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan should be commended, their courage and sacrifice have been exceptional, and when they come home, their service should be recognized appropriately.
• The primary purpose of funds made available by this Act should be to transition the mission of the U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq and undertake their redeployment, and not to extend or prolong the war.

This bill supports our troops, while requiring the President to change course in Iraq, with a timetable for redeployment:

• This bill changes the direction of President Bush’s failed Iraqi policy: requiring the President to redeploy our troops, while providing our troops in harm’s way with the resources they need.
• President Bush has asked Congress for an additional nearly $200 billion for Iraq. The House will instead vote on a $50 billion package – funding for the next four months, tied to conditions.
• The bill provides $50 billion to meet the immediate needs of our troops, but defers consideration of the remainder of the President’s nearly $200 billion request.

The bill requires the redeployment of our troops to begin within 30 days of enactment, with a goal of completion of December 15, 2008:

• Within 30 days after enactment of this Act, the President shall commence an immediate and orderly redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq.
• The Secretary of Defense, by February 1, 2008 and every 90 days thereafter, must report to Congress on the current plan for and the status of the redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq and the transition to a limited presence. He must also describe efforts to limit any destabilizing consequences of such reduction and transition, including a description of efforts to work with the United Nations and countries in the region toward that objective.

The Bill Also Places Several Other Conditions on the Short-Term Funding Provided

Most importantly, the bill imposes a timeline for the redeployment of U.S. troops, with a goal of the completion of the redeployment by December 15, 2008. However, in addition, the bill imposes several other conditions on the Administration in order to receive the funding, as outlined below.

The bill requires a transition in the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq from primarily combat to the following limited purposes:

• Protecting U.S. diplomatic facilities, U.S. Armed Forces, and American citizens
• Engaging in targeted counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda affiliated groups, and other terrorist organizations in Iraq
• Providing limited support to Iraqi security forces

The bill prohibits deployment of U.S. troops to Iraq who are not fully trained and fully equipped:

• Requires that troops be “fully mission capable” before being deployed to Iraq
• Allows the President to waive this requirement if he certified in writing that the waiver is required for reasons of national security

The bill ensures no torture:

• Includes an extension to all U.S. government agencies and personnel of the current prohibitions in the Army Field Manual against torture.

The Measure Has the Support of American People

This measure represents the views of the American people, who are demanding a new direction in Iraq:

• In the CNN-Opinion Research poll released on November 8, 68 percent of Americans stated that they opposed the war in Iraq – the highest percentage since the war began.
• In a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, 60 percent of Americans support redeploying our troops out of Iraq.