[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 16, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H7811-H7812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HILL INTERNATIONAL DESERVES TO BE PAID FOR WORK DONE

  (Mr. SAXTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, just as the previous speaker, I rise on 
behalf of one of my constituents, Hill International, a company which 
has fought for over a decade to collect a debt from the Kingdom of 
Saudi Arabia. It is an

[[Page H7812]]

unpaid debt which has been unfairly withheld.
  In the early 1980s, a subsidiary of Hill International, Gibbs & Hill, 
successfully completed a desalinization plant in Yanbu City, Saudi 
Arabia, yet were never paid the $55 million due them for the work. 
Despite all the work put in by Members of Congress to encourage the 
settlement of this claim, and despite repeated promises that the claim 
would be paid, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has yet to pay this overdue 
bill.
  I also find it troubling that our own administration has been unable 
or unwilling to actively assist the U.S. company against a foreign 
government. Where is the State Department in this fight?
  Fifty-five million dollars may seem like spare change to the Saudis, 
but it means something to Hill International, just as it would any 
hardworking company of the United States. I rise to say that I will not 
rest until the debt is paid.

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