Today, Vice President Biden spoke with Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker Osama Nujayfi.  They discussed Iraq’s recent provincial elections and other political and security events in Iraq and the greater region.  The Vice President and Speaker Nujayfi also discussed important legislation currently before the Council of Representatives and the need for compromise from all political blocs to ensure that these laws can be enacted as soon as possible.  The Vice President emphasized the U.S. commitment to the vision of a unified, federal, and democratic Iraq as defined in the Iraqi constitution, and to the further strengthening of bilateral relations under the Strategic Framework Agreement.  The Vice President sent his best wishes to the Speaker and his family, and to all Iraqis, on the occasion of Ramadan.