110 HRES 1431 IH: Expressing the sense of the House of U.S. House of Representatives 2008-09-11 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 1431 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 11, 2008 Mr. Stearns submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Department of Defense and the Department of State should withhold funds for any new reconstruction projects in Iraq until the Iraqi Government reimburses the United States for previous reconstruction projects, and for other purposes.

Whereas the United States has been undertaking a large-scale assistance program in Iraq since the middle of 2003; Whereas nearly $49,000,000,000 has been appropriated by Congress for Iraq reconstruction; Whereas most recently, in June 2008, Congress approved over $4,000,000,000 for Iraq reconstruction in a fiscal year 2008 and 2009 supplemental appropriations bill (Public Law 110–252); Whereas, in the first several years of the United States effort in Iraq, most of the United States assistance was provided through a specially created Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF); Whereas the IRRF eventually totaled nearly $21,000,000,000; Whereas, in May 2005, a new Department of Defense account, the Iraq Security Forces Fund (ISFF), supporting the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces, was established; Whereas the United States has appropriated approximately $18,000,000,000 through the ISFF; Whereas, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, from 2005 through 2007, the Iraqi Government generated an estimated $96,000,000,000 in revenues, of which crude oil export sales accounted for about $90,200,000,000, or 94 percent; Whereas, for 2008, the GAO estimated that Iraq could generate between $73,500,000,000 and $86,200,000,000 in total revenues, of which oil exports will account for between $66,500,000,000 to $79,200,000,000; Whereas the GAO report estimates that Iraq had a cumulative budget surplus of about $29,000,000,000 from 2005 to 2007; Whereas, for 2008, the GAO estimates Iraq’s budget surplus for 2008 could range from $38,200,000,000 to $50,300,000,000; Whereas, according to the GAO, Iraq could finish 2008 with as much as a $79,000,000,000 cumulative budget surplus; Whereas the GAO reports that United States agencies spent about $23,200,000,000 on the critical security, oil, electricity, and water sectors; Whereas, from 2005 through April 2008, Iraq spent only about $3,900,000,000 on these sectors; and Whereas the GAO found that while Iraq’s total expenditures increased from 2005 through 2007, Iraq spent a declining share of its budget allocations of 73 to 65 percent from 2005 to 2007: Now, therefore, be it

That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that— (1)the Department of Defense and the Department of State should withhold funds for any new reconstruction projects in Iraq until the Iraqi Government reimburses the United States for previous reconstruction projects; and (2)any future assistance to Iraq for reconstruction activities should be provided only if the Iraqi Government agrees to match such assistance on a dollar-for-dollar basis.