2 November 1998
Source: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html

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[DOCID: f:h4655rds.txt]
105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4655

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

              October 6 (legislative day, October 2), 1998

                                Received

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


  To establish a program to support a transition to democracy in Iraq.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Iraq Liberation Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On September 22, 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, starting an
        eight year war in which Iraq employed chemical weapons against
        Iranian troops and ballistic missiles against Iranian cities.
            (2) In February 1988, Iraq forcibly relocated Kurdish
        civilians from their home villages in the Anfal campaign,
        killing an estimated 50,000 to 180,000 Kurds.
            (3) On March 16, 1988, Iraq used chemical weapons against
        Iraqi Kurdish civilian opponents in the town of Halabja,
        killing an estimated 5,000 Kurds and causing numerous birth
        defects that affect the town today.
            (4) On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded and began a seven month
        occupation of Kuwait, killing and committing numerous abuses
        against Kuwaiti civilians, and setting Kuwait's oil wells
        ablaze upon retreat.
            (5) Hostilities in Operation Desert Storm ended on February
        28, 1991, and Iraq subsequently accepted the ceasefire
        conditions specified in United Nations Security Council
        Resolution 687 (April 3, 1991) requiring Iraq, among other
        things, to disclose fully and permit the dismantlement of its
        weapons of mass destruction programs and submit to long-term
        monitoring and verification of such dismantlement.
            (6) In April 1993, Iraq orchestrated a failed plot to
        assassinate former President George Bush during his April 14-
        16, 1993, visit to Kuwait.
            (7) In October 1994, Iraq moved 80,000 troops to areas near
        the border with Kuwait, posing an imminent threat of a renewed
        invasion of or attack against Kuwait.
            (8) On August 31, 1996, Iraq suppressed many of its
        opponents by helping one Kurdish faction capture Irbil, the
        seat of the Kurdish regional government.
            (9) Since March 1996, Iraq has systematically sought to
        deny weapons inspectors from the United Nations Special
        Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) access to key facilities and
        documents, has on several occasions endangered the safe
        operation of UNSCOM helicopters transporting UNSCOM personnel
        in Iraq, and has persisted in a pattern of deception and
        concealment regarding the history of its weapons of mass
        destruction programs.
            (10) On August 5, 1998, Iraq ceased all cooperation with
        UNSCOM, and subsequently threatened to end long-term monitoring
        activities by the International Atomic Energy Agency and
        UNSCOM.
            (11) On August 14, 1998, President Clinton signed Public
        Law 105-235, which declared that ``the Government of Iraq is in
        material and unacceptable breach of its international
        obligations'' and urged the President ``to take appropriate
        action, in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws
        of the United States, to bring Iraq into compliance with its
        international obligations.''.
            (12) On May 1, 1998, President Clinton signed Public Law
        105-174, which made $5,000,000 available for assistance to the
        Iraqi democratic opposition for such activities as
        organization, training, communication and dissemination of
        information, developing and implementing agreements among
        opposition groups, compiling information to support the
        indictment of Iraqi officials for war crimes, and for related
        purposes.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD IRAQ.

    It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to
remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to
promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that
regime.

SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT A TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ.

    (a) Authority To Provide Assistance.--The President may provide to
the Iraqi democratic opposition organizations designated in accordance
with section 5 the following assistance:
            (1) Broadcasting assistance.--(A) Grant assistance to such
        organizations for radio and television broadcasting by such
        organizations to Iraq.
            (B) There is authorized to be appropriated to the United
        States Information Agency $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1999 to
        carry out this paragraph.
            (2) Military assistance.--(A) The President is authorized
        to direct the drawdown of defense articles from the stocks of
        the Department of Defense, defense services of the Department
        of Defense, and military education and training for such
        organizations.
            (B) The aggregate value (as defined in section 644(m) of
        the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961) of assistance provided
        under this paragraph may not exceed $97,000,000.
    (b) Humanitarian Assistance.--The Congress urges the President to
use existing authorities under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to
provide humanitarian assistance to individuals living in areas of Iraq
controlled by organizations designated in accordance with section 5,
with emphasis on addressing the needs of individuals who have fled to
such areas from areas under the control of the Saddam Hussein regime.
    (c) Restriction on Assistance.--No assistance under this section
shall be provided to any group within an organization designated in
accordance with section 5 which group is, at the time the assistance is
to be provided, engaged in military cooperation with the Saddam Hussein
regime.
    (d) Notification Requirement.--The President shall notify the
congressional committees specified in section 634A of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 at least 15 days in advance of each obligation
of assistance under this section in accordance with the procedures
applicable to reprogramming notifications under such section 634A.
    (e) Reimbursement Relating to Military Assistance.--
            (1) In general.--Defense articles, defense services, and
        military education and training provided under subsection
        (a)(2) shall be made available without reimbursement to the
        Department of Defense except to the extent that funds are
        appropriated pursuant to paragraph (2).
            (2) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized
        to be appropriated to the President for each of the fiscal
        years 1998 and 1999 such sums as may be necessary to reimburse
        the applicable appropriation, fund, or account for the value
        (as defined in section 644(m) of the Foreign Assistance Act if
        1961) of defense articles, defense services, or military
        education and training provided under subsection (a)(2).
    (f) Availability of Funds.--(1) Amounts authorized to be
appropriated under this section are authorized to remain available
until expended.
    (2) Amounts authorized to be appropriated under this section are in
addition to amounts otherwise available for the purposes described in
this section.
    (g) Authority To Provide Assistance.--Activities under this section
(including activities of the nature described in subsection (b)) may be
undertaken notwithstanding any other provision of law.

SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF IRAQI DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION ORGANIZATION.

    (a) Initial Designation.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the President shall designate one or more Iraqi
democratic opposition organizations that the President determines
satisfy the criteria set forth in subsection (c) as eligible to receive
assistance under section 4.
    (b) Designation of Additional Organizations.--At any time
subsequent to the initial designation pursuant to subsection (a), the
President may designate one or more additional Iraqi democratic
opposition organizations that the President determines satisfy the
criteria set forth in subsection (c) as eligible to receive assistance
under section 4.
    (c) Criteria for Designation.--In designating an organization
pursuant to this section, the President shall consider only
organizations that--
            (1) include a broad spectrum of Iraqi individuals, groups,
        or both, opposed to the Saddam Hussein regime; and
            (2) are committed to democratic values, to respect for
        human rights, to peaceful relations with Iraq's neighbors, to
        maintaining Iraq's territorial integrity, and to fostering
        cooperation among democratic opponents of the Saddam Hussein
        regime.
    (d) Notification Requirement.--At least 15 days in advance of
designating an Iraqi democratic opposition organization pursuant to
this section, the President shall notify the congressional committees
specified in section 634A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 of his
proposed designation in accordance with the procedures applicable to
reprogramming notifications under such section 634A.

SEC. 6. WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL FOR IRAQ.

    Consistent with section 301 of the Foreign Relations Authorization
Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 (Public Law 102-138), House Concurrent
Resolution 137, 105th Congress (approved by the House of
Representatives on November 13, 1997), and Senate Concurrent Resolution
78, 105th Congress (approved by the Senate on March 13, 1998), the
Congress urges the President to call upon the United Nations to
establish an international criminal tribunal for the purpose of
indicting, prosecuting, and imprisoning Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi
officials who are responsible for crimes against humanity, genocide,
and other criminal violations of international law.

SEC. 7. ASSISTANCE FOR IRAQ UPON REPLACEMENT OF SADDAM HUSSEIN REGIME.

    It is the sense of Congress that once the Saddam Hussein regime is
removed from power in Iraq, the United States should support Iraq's
transition to democracy by providing immediate and substantial
humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, by providing democracy
transition assistance to Iraqi parties and movements with democratic
goals, and by convening Iraq's foreign creditors to develop a
multilateral response to Iraq's foreign debt incurred by Saddam
Hussein's regime.

SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize or otherwise
speak to the use of United States Armed Forces (except as provided in
section 4(a)(2)) in carrying out this Act.

            Passed the House of Representatives October 5, 1998.

            Attest:

                                                ROBIN H. CARLE,

                                                                 Clerk.
