[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 85 (Monday, May 22, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S7133]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           SUPPORT OF S. 747

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise today in support of S. 
747. The intent of this bill is to modify section 36(b)(1) of the Arms 
Export and Control Act to require congressional oversight and scrutiny 
of all arms sales to the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
until such time as the Secretary of the State certifies and reports to 
Congress that the unpaid claims of American companies described in the 
June 30, 1993, report by the Secretary of Defense pursuant to section 
9140(c) of the Department of Defense Appropriation Act, 1993 (Public 
Law 102-396; 106 Stat 1939), including the additional claims noticed by 
the Department of Commerce on page 2 of the report, have been resolved 
satisfactorily.
  My interest in S. 747 relates in part to a New York company, Gibbs & 
Hill, Inc. Gibbs & Hill was founded in 1911, and has the privilege of 
being the oldest power and transportation engineering firm in the 
United States. One of its most notable projects was the electrification 
of the Northeast corridor rail line between New York and Washington, 
DC. The first electric locomotive to run on these tracks was the George 
Gibbs I.
  In 1978, Gibbs & Hill went to Saudi Arabia to provide its engineering 
expertise to the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu in connection 
with the design and construction of the Yanbu Industrial City. Gibbs & 
Hill was hired by the Royal Commission to design the desalination and 
related facilities, which are a major component of this industrial 
complex. The Royal Commission required significant additional services 
of Gibbs & Hill, equaling more than 200 man-years of effort. After 
requiring Gibbs & Hill to perform the work, committing to compensate 
Gibbs & Hill for the added services, and benefiting from the work 
performed, the Royal Commission refused to pay. Gibbs & Hill's attempts 
to seek redress through the kingdom's court system was useless, as the 
court merely upheld the wrongful acts of another agency of the kingdom.
  The default landed Gibbs & Hill in the special claims process 
established following congressional hearings in May 1992, and furthered 
by section 9140(c) of the fiscal year 1993 Department of Defense 
Appropriations Act. The $43.4 million claim of Gibbs & Hill is the last 
remaining unpaid claim awaiting resolution by the Saudi Government 
through the special claims process. Despite repeated commitments to our 
Government by the Saudi Government to resolve the claim favorably for 
the company, Gibbs & Hill has not been paid. Gibbs & Hill has waited 
more than 14 years to have this debt paid, including 2 years since 
receiving explicit commitments from the Saudi Embassy that it would 
spare no efforts in resolving the claim fairly and promptly.
  Today, the Yanbu Industrial City is pointed to as an example of the 
kingdom's technological advancement. Yet this advancement was obtained 
at the expense of Gibbs & Hill. The kingdom had an obligation to honor 
its commitments to Gibbs & Hill, as it still does today. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in supporting S. 747.


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