[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 198 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                      October 16, 2003.
Whereas France, Germany, Russia, and other nations have expressed an interest in 
        assisting in the reconstruction of Iraq;
Whereas France, Germany, Russia, and other nations have previously encouraged 
        and provided debt relief as a way to assist other nations;
Whereas France, Germany, Russia, and other nations had extensive trade 
        relationships with Iraq;
Whereas loans and other support from France, Germany, Russia, and other nations 
        were used by the Saddam Hussein regime to support the development of its 
        weapons of mass destruction programs, the expansion of the Iraqi Army 
        that the regime used to invade its neighbors, and the building of 
        palaces, monuments, and other means of aggrandizing Saddam Hussein;
Whereas the United States has already provided approximately $3,000,000,000 in 
        the form of grants to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi 
        people and to rebuild Iraq's crumbling infrastructure; and
Whereas France, Germany, Russia, and other nations are capable of making 
        generous pledges for the reconstruction of Iraq at the International 
        Conference on Reconstruction in Iraq to be held in Madrid: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that France, 
Germany, Russia, and other nations--
            (1) should work with multilateral institutions and with creditor 
        nations in the ``Paris Club'' to establish a debt forgiveness program 
        for Iraq to aid its reconstruction;
            (2) should make generous pledges for the reconstruction of Iraq at 
        the International Conference on Reconstruction in Iraq to be held in 
        Madrid; and
            (3) should acknowledge the role that Iraq's current debt plays in 
        hindering its reconstruction.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.