09 October 2003
Congress Urged Not to "Cut Corners" in Funding Iraqi Reconstruction
Lawmakers debate how to ensure $20 billion request for Iraq is "spent right"
By Anthony Kujawa
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- A senior Defense Department official urged Congress to approve the Bush administration's full $87 billion request for this year to support continuing military operations in Iraq and postwar reconstruction and development efforts, saying "cutting corners now ... could prove much more costly in the long run."
Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Peter W. Rodman, appearing before the House Armed Services Committee October 8, said postconflict reconstruction of Iraq is a matter of "the highest priority" for President Bush and his administration.
"Now is the time to seek visible improvements in their [the Iraqi people's] situation, to sustain and vindicate their hopes," said Rodman.
But lawmakers called for transparency and accountability, pressing officials to explain how they will ensure that the $20 billion portion of the request that would be spent on Iraqi reconstruction be spent effectively.
Representative Vic Synder, a Democrat from Arkansas, complained that the committee has had difficulty obtaining information on how past reconstruction funds for Iraq have been spent.
"We're asking the American people for $20 billion additionally for reconstruction, and yet elected representatives can't get the information they want as far as how previous money was spent," said Synder.
Dave Oliver, chief financial officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), told the committee that every contract and expenditure that CPA Administrator L. Paul Bremer has approved is now available on the CPA's Web site at www.cpa-iraq.org.
"I'm trying to make this as transparent as possible," said Oliver. "And it wasn't as good at the beginning because I got involved in just doing too much and not recognizing how important that was."
Also testifying before the committee, president of the Washington-based think-tank Center for Strategic and International Studies and former Deputy Defense Secretary John J. Hamre said he feared "American willingness to stay the course" in Iraq is eroding.
"We cannot walk away from this challenge in Iraq. We have to succeed," said Hamre, who returned from Iraq in July after leading a team at the request of Bremer and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to conduct an independent assessment of reconstruction efforts.
Hamre said substantial improvement of Iraqi reconstruction "absolutely hinges" on Congress appropriating funds "to keep this operation solid for the next year."
Representative Ed Schrock, a Republican from Virginia, echoed these remarks, warning that Iraqis are "questioning our resolve." He called for an increase in civil affairs teams to assist with humanitarian efforts in Iraq.
Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter said, "We're all trying to get to the same bottom line here, and that's 'how to make sure this money is spent right.'"
In response to a question about whether the CPA has a mechanism to quickly disperse "ready money" in an effective manner so that local Iraqi governments can meet immediate needs, the CPA's Oliver said military commanders are now spending about $5 million a week through the Commander's Emergency Response Program to fund local projects. Of the $87 billion Emergency Supplemental request, $185 million is requested for this program, he said.
Recalling his visit to Kirkut and meetings with Iraqi community leaders, Chairman Hunter said "these local leaders have problems in their city -- they have water lines that are breaking, they have electrical lines that need to be put up, they have the -- they have lots of local problems that need to be fixed -- and one way that we can empower these new leaders in the communities in Iraq is to help them with their projects."
The chairman called for an effective mechanism to quickly respond to project requests of local Iraqi governments and to empower locally elected Iraqi city councils.
"When you have leadership that you've supported, the best way to support them is to empower them with the ability to carry out for their constituents things that their constituents want," said Hunter.
Oliver explained that about 255 local governing councils now have a budget through the national Governing Council's Ministry of Public Works and coalition military commanders. Rodman added that the Iraqi ministries at the national level are taking on increased responsibility in running their own affairs.
In response to a question on how reconstruction contracts are awarded, Oliver said that contracting entities would be a U.S. organization such as the Army Corps of Engineers. But he added that the process of awarding contracts will be conducted in a "fair and open competition ... in the same way you do all of the American contracts that you guys appropriate through the State Department and Defense."
Pressed to estimate how long it might take for the United States to bring freedom, peace and prosperity to Iraq, Rodman said, "I don't think it is our job to remake Iraq. It is the job of Iraqis to rebuild their society."
"What I think we ought to aim at is putting them on a certain path, so that they can sustain the progress that is going to come," added Rodman.
The U.S. mission, he said, is "to launch them [the Iraqi people] on a certain path to create some basic conditions in which they can then take over the responsibility to build their own institutions."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=October&x=20031009174902awajuka0.890896&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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