[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 103 (Monday, July 31, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S8446]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S8446]]
                      IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION FAILURES

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we learned this past week of the latest 
example of the colossal waste, fraud and abuse in the administration's 
reconstruction program in Iraq.
  Documented in the Special Inspector General's report released last 
Friday is the fiasco of the Basra Children's Hospital, yet another 
casualty on the long list of U.S.-financed infrastructure projects in 
Iraq to face cost overruns, mismanagement, delays and potential 
cancellation.
  Back in 2003, Congress allocated $50 million for the construction of 
a 94-bed state-of-the-art children's cancer treatment hospital in 
southern Iraq. Despite repeated calls from humanitarian organizations 
and experts at the United States Agency for International Development 
to instead work with the Iraqis to rebuild their primary health system, 
the Bush administration promoted this high-profile, glitzy project 
championed by the White House.
  Nearly 3 years later, due to gross mismanagement, the hospital is 
only 35 percent complete, out of money and teetering on the verge of 
collapse. The cost overruns are so significant that the project will 
cost between $120 and $160 million to complete and is not expected to 
be finished until December 2007, over a year later than planned. 
Meanwhile, Iraqis continue to suffer from low quality and poor access 
to basic health services.
  USAID is at fault for not properly accounting for all the costs of 
constructing the hospital and should have consulted with Congress when 
they knew about cost overruns and scheduling delays. But press reports 
have ignored the fact that from the beginning, USAID wisely opposed 
this costly, misguided infrastructure project in a dangerous and 
corrupt environment, knowing of the likelihood that these problems 
could arise.
  Bechtel, the lead government contractor for the Basra Hospital 
project and the same contractor for the flawed Boston Big Dig tunnel 
project, has once again been dismissed from a large-scale project due 
to incompetence. Sadly, this is not the first nor is it likely to be 
the last instance of waste, fraud and abuse in the reconstruction of 
Iraq under the negligent leadership of the Bush administration.
  The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction 
has been the watchdog for the billions of dollars appropriated for Iraq 
reconstruction programs and operations. The creation of the office was 
initially opposed by the White House and by some in Congress who would 
prefer that the appalling blunders of the Iraq reconstruction program 
not be exposed to the light of day.
  By all accounts, the Special Inspector General has done an excellent 
job under difficult and dangerous conditions by uncovering numerous 
instances of waste and fraud and there are dozens of investigations and 
prosecutions under way.
  The picture provided by the Special Inspector General is in stark 
contrast to the rhetoric coming from the administration that 
reconstruction is moving forward at a rapid pace. Thanks to the 
persistent leadership of Senator Feingold, and with support from 
Senators Warner and Levin, we were able to include a Feingold-Leahy 
Amendment to the Senate version of the fiscal year 2007 Defense 
authorization bill to extend the life of the Special Inspector General 
for Iraq Reconstruction and ensure continued and necessary audits of 
the very programs the Special Inspector General was created to oversee. 
It is crucial that this provision be retained in the final version of 
the bill.
  Mr. President, the tragedy of the Basra Children's Hospital project 
speaks volumes about this administration's Iraq policy. It is a legacy 
of arrogance, squander and incompetence. Just throw money at the 
problem and hope for the best. Use expensive American contractors 
rather than Iraqis who are unemployed or underemployed and could do the 
work for a fraction of the cost. And then try to shut down the office 
that exposes the waste. It is shocking, it is tragic and it is 
inexcusable.

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