HRES 873 IH
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 873
Establishing a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 27, 2009
Mr. ROHRABACHER (for himself and Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
RESOLUTION
Establishing a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Whereas 15 countries including leading European nations have diplomatic and consulate representation in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq;
Whereas the United States Department of State modified its Travel Warning for Iraq this year to reflect the relative safety and security of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is consistent with current United States policy to normalize bilateral United States-Iraq relations at the diplomatic, commercial, cultural, and educational levels as the United States Armed Forces redeploys from Iraq;
Whereas greater United States Government civilian representation throughout Iraq, including in the Kurdistan Region, will serve the United States interest during this period of military transition across the country;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will increase travel between the United States and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and thus strengthen people-to-people exchanges between both sides;
Whereas presently, United States citizens either living in or visiting the Kurdistan Region must travel to the United States Embassy in Baghdad, 200 miles away, to receive consular services;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region will both be helpful in attracting greater United States business and investment to the region and ensuring that the region continues to serve as a ‘gateway’ to United States business success in other parts of Iraq, as a number of United States Government agencies have advocated;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region will demonstrate a United States commitment to maintaining and building upon the success and stability of this prosperous and democratic Iraqi region;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will allow more government and nongovernmental missions between the United States and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, a mutual interest;
Whereas the Kurds of Iraq have been willing partners with the United States in the democratic transition in Iraq since 2003 and the Kurdistan Region has served as a model of Iraq’s democratization since Operation Iraqi Freedom;
Whereas the United States and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have been full partners in the battle against terrorism and those who seek to undermine continued progress in a pluralistic, democratic, and federal Iraq;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will play a helpful role in continuing to safeguard Iraq’s territorial integrity from external aggression and support United States and Iraqi diplomatic initiatives that seek to prevent outside interference in Iraq’s affairs;
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will also foster continued dialogue at a strategic level between the United States and the KRG; and
Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will positively contribute to continued diplomatic initiatives between the KRG and Turkey: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives calls on the Department of State to establish a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Full Text of Legislation